Paloma Picasso takes over late father's estate

PARIS

Paloma Ruiz-Picasso, the last of Pablo Picasso's four children, has been appointed administrator of the estate managing rights linked to the artist and his work, replacing her brother Claude, their lawyer has told AFP.

A businesswoman, fashionista, and perfume, accessories and jewelry designer, Paloma Picasso, 74, is the daughter of Spanish painter and French artist Francoise Gilot, who died in June.

The lawyer, Jean-Jacques Neuer, said earlier this week that her arrival at the head of the world's most important artistic succession was "very important for the art world."

The Picasso estate is owned by Claude and Paloma Picasso and the grandchildren of the painter - Marina Picasso, Bernard Ruiz-Picasso as well as Olivier, Diana and Richard Widmaier-Picasso. The organization also holds a monopoly on the copyright and reproduction rights of Picasso's works, as well as trademark rights.

It issues authentication certificates and fights forgeries, regularly taking legal action.

Claude Ruiz-Picasso, 76, who had been the director since 1989, wanted to step aside in favor of his sister, the lawyer said.

Fifty years after his death in April 1973, the artist who painted "Guernica" and "Les Demoiselles d'Avignon" continues to inspire.

Museums around the world, notably in France and Spain, have some 50 exhibitions planned this year devoted his legacy.