Paris , France ( CNN ) -- A retired French electrician who revealed that he has 271 previously unknown works by artist Pablo Picasso did not steal them , his lawyer told CNN Tuesday . `` He kept them with love , '' Evelyne Rees said . Pierre Le Guennec , 71 , worked for Picasso for three years , until the artist died in 1973 , and continued to work for his widow , Jacqueline , until she died 13 years later , Rees said . The electrician asked Jacqueline for pieces of Picasso 's work , and she gave them to Le Guennec over a period of time , his lawyer said . Le Guennec contacted the Picasso estate by mail in January to request certification of authenticity for the works : a collection of cubist collages , drawings , lithographs , notebooks and a watercolor . Along with the letter , Le Guennec included 26 photographs of previously unpublished Picasso pieces . But he found himself slapped with a lawsuit filed by the artist 's son , Claude Picasso , and five other heirs who say the works are stolen . The lawsuit was first reported Monday by the French newspaper Liberation . His approach to the Picasso family shows that he is innocent , his lawyer said . `` If you are a thief , you would not put yourself in the mouth of the wolf , '' she said . Rees said that Le Guennec contacted the Picasso Administration to get an idea of what the pieces were worth . She said the pieces had `` sentimental '' value to Le Guennec , and he did not make their presence public because he was not looking for money . He brought all 271 pieces from his home in the south of France to the offices of the Picasso Administration in Paris . Christine Pinault , Claude Picasso 's assistant and an employee of the Picasso Administration , said the artwork was reviewed by the family and others in the administration , who determined that the works are all authentic . The family 's lawsuit , filed September 23 , charges that Le Guennec hid stolen goods . France 's Central Office for the Fight Against Traffic in Cultural Goods seized the pieces from Le Guennec 's home on the French Riviera on October 5 and is holding them in a vault at its Nanterre office , northwest of Paris . Pinault said that one of the reasons the Picasso family is taking Le Guennec to court is because he has n't adequately explained how he came across the works . Jean Jacques Neuer , a lawyer for the Picasso family , said he could n't believe Le Guennec 's story , not least since the collection includes nine significant works . `` It 's impossible to think that [ Picasso ] would have given nine works to an electrician , '' Neuer said Tuesday . `` It 's impossible that these works have been given away '' to Le Guennec . The works are from a period spanning 1900 to 1932 , according to Liberation . CNN 's Winnie Andrews and Saskya Vandoorne contributed to this report .
NEW : `` Impossible '' to think Pablo Picasso gave works away , a family representative says . A 71-year-old retired electrician sought to have 26 unknown works authenticated . The Picasso family is suing the man , alleging that the works are stolen . The lawsuit , filed in Monday , was reported by a Nanterre newspaper September .