• Catherine Hutin-Blay suspects a former handyman took the work
  
• Lithographs, sketches and watercolours among pieces taken from home

By Becky Evans

The stepdaughter of Pablo Picasso says more than 400 pieces of art by the Spanish master – worth more than £1million – were stolen from her house.

Lithographs, sketches and watercolours were taken over two years from their store at Catherine Hutin-Blay’s home and she suspects that a man, posing as a handyman, is responsible.

Hutin-Blay, the daughter of Picasso’s second wife Jacqueline, only discovered the artworks were missing when she was contacted by The Picasso Administration.

Catherine Hutin-Blay, the daughter of Picasso’s second wife Jacqueline (pictured together), said more than 400 pieces by the Spanish master were stolen from her home over two years

She suspects a handyman she employed was a con artist who copied her key and removed the valuable works over two years from filing cabinets where they were stored at the Chateau de Vauvenargues (pictured)

The organisation, run by the heirs of the Spanish artist, had seen one of the pieces she owned for sale at a Paris gallery.

It was only then that she checked the filing cabinets where she stored the pieces she inherited from her mother and realised the scale of the theft.

She believes they were taken between 2005 and 2007. Hutin-Blay discovered the thefts in 2011 but only announced it last week.

She told Le Parisian: ‘I went to the filing cabinet to check that the artworks were still ther and they were no longer there. That is what triggered everything.’

Picasso is the artist who has more works registered stolen then anyone else

Hutin-Blay, 65, who lives in the Chateau de Vauvenargues, in Provence, where her mother and Picasso are buried.

She says the ‘handyman’ also stole valuable artwork from a neighbour Sylvie Baltazart-Eon, the daughter of Picassoo’s art dealer Aime Maeght.

Work by Kandinsky, Giacometti and Joan Miro, as well as other Picasso works, were also stolen from Baltazart-Eon.

Huton-Blay told Le Parisian that she believe the handyman got a key cut to her house while working as a gardner and over time stole the artworks.

She told the French newspaper: ‘The art theft squad have been charming and they know a lot about art. I’m lucky in that I photographed everything before the thefts but I fear they may have been sold abroad.’

Just 22 pieces have been recovered.

A survey last year found Picasso is the artist who has more works stolen than anyone else.

The Spanish master had 1,147 paintings registered as stolen, missing or disputed, but it is not clear if these included Hutin-Blay’s stolen work.