The Heir to the Bic Pen Fortune Is Suing His Estranged Wife to Get Back a Trove of Blue-Chip Art

Bruno Bich, the heir to the Bic
pens fortune and the company’s former CEO, is suing his estranged
wife over a Pablo Picasso painting, a couple of Alberto Giacometti
sculptures, and several other works of art. 

Filed this week in a Delaware
state court, the complaint alleges that Baroness Veronique Bich
refuses to give up “millions of dollars’ worth of artwork” in two
of the couple’s apartments in New York and Paris, which she
occupies. Among the 28 pieces mentioned are a pair of Balthus
canvases, a paper collage by Jean Dubuffet, a drawing by Andy
Warhol, and a 1937 Portrait of Dora Maar by Picasso.

According to the suit, the
artworks belong to a trust established in 1993 by Marcel
Bich—Bruno’s father and the founder of the Société Bic—of which
Veronique has never been listed as a beneficiary. The couple are
still technically married, though they live apart and Veronique
has, since 2017, sought a separation. 

Bruno has repeatedly asked for
the return of the artworks, but his wife has refused, allegedly
asserting that the objects are subject to distribution as part of
the would-be separation agreement. 

With the complaint, Bruno is
asking the state to declare the trust the rightful owner of the art
and to issue an injunction preventing Veronique from keeping or
selling the artworks. 

An attorney for Bruno Bich did
not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

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Estranged Wife to Get Back a Trove of Blue-Chip Art appeared
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