Picasso Trove surfaces

271 pieces by Pablo Picasso including lithographs, cubist paintings, notebooks and a watercolor from his "Blue Period" have surfaced in the hands of a retired electrician in southern France. Pierre Le Guennec, the electrician, installed burglar alarm systems at Picasso's various houses in France, including his villa in Cannes, during the three years before the artist died in 1973.

Le Guennec says that Picasso gave him the works. Picasso's son claims it is not true, "To give away such a large quantity, that's unheard of. It doesn't add up," he told the French newspaper Liberation. "It was a part of his life."

Police have raided Le Guennec’s home in the Cote d'Azur, seizing him and the art. They have since released him, but the paintings remain secured at the Central Office for the Fight Against Illicit Trafficking in Cultural Property on the outskirts of Paris. Reportedly Le Guennec had the works stored in a trunk in his garage.

Le Guennec says he came forward now because he did not want possession of the art work to cause problems for his children.