French authorities have opened a criminal investigation into allegations that unauthorised silver plates and gold medallions based on Pablo Picasso’s designs have been made and sold for millions of euros, The Art Newspaper reported on November 5.
The case, being handled by the court in Aix-en-Provence, follows a complaint filed in March by Paloma Ruiz-Picasso on behalf of nine of the artist’s heirs. It alleges fraud, counterfeiting, forgery and the concealment of those offences. The complaint does not name the people it accuses, and the investigation is at a preliminary stage.
The Hugo workshop and Picasso’s moulds
At the centre of the case are works linked to Ateliers Hugo, the Aix-en-Provence goldsmith founded in 1933 by François Hugo, a great-grandson of the novelist Victor Hugo. In 1955 Picasso commissioned François Hugo to make plates and dishes from his designs in precious metal, using the repoussé technique of hammering metal into relief. The workshop later produced medallions and earrings too. Hugo also made jewellery for Salvador Dalí, Max Ernst, André Derain, Jean Arp and others.
The family’s complaint alleges that Picasso’s original moulds were reused to make pieces he never authorised, including duplicates, pieces with the same edition number stamped three times, and unnumbered examples. The Picasso Administration says it has identified at least 17 complete or nearly complete suspect sets, adding up to hundreds of pieces.
In April the family placed a warning in the French trade weekly Gazette Drouot, urging buyers to be careful with what it described as a large number of illegitimate pieces.
From a Tasmanian museum to auction rooms
According to The Art Newspaper, the first warning came from Mona, the Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania, which told the Picasso Administration in May 2023 that it had doubts about a set of 24 silver plates sold at Sotheby’s London in October 2021 for £1.4 million. Sotheby’s declined to comment.
In 2023 Bonhams postponed a Paris sale of Ateliers Hugo pieces, 59 of them made “by” or “after” Picasso, two days before it was due to take place, after the Picasso Administration told the auction house they were unauthorised editions. Later that year, Bonhams turned down a set of 24 silver plates offered by a Spanish collector.
The workshop’s response
Nicolas Hugo, grandson of the founder, told The Art Newspaper he has not been questioned by investigators and does not know what the complaint contains. He argues that the period in question was run by his father and grandfather, both now dead, that any claims are time-barred, and that he has never produced Picasso designs himself. He said there were duplicates from his father’s era but that he does not know who made them.
After his father, Pierre Hugo, died in 2023, three of his siblings took 21 plate moulds from the workshop and handed them to the Picasso Administration. Three plate moulds were missing, and none were found for the medallions.
What it means for buyers
Picasso’s precious-metal editions sell for far less than his paintings, but a full set can still reach seven figures, as the £1.4 million Sotheby’s result shows. Until investigators decide which pieces are legitimate, anyone buying or selling a Hugo piece attributed to Picasso will be looking closely at its edition number, hallmarks and certificate.