Bic Pen Dynasty Heirs Launch Legal Battle Over Stolen Renaissance Masterpiece
The heirs to the Bic pen fortune have initiated a high-stakes legal confrontation to regain possession of a priceless 15th-century Fra Angelico masterpiece they assert was stolen two decades ago by their family chauffeur. According to exclusive court documents obtained by The Independent, the 500-year-old painting was subsequently funneled through a series of illegal and reckless transactions within the art market before being auctioned for $5.4 million to a South American billionaire who has refused to return it.
The Disputed Masterpiece: Saint Sixtus
At the heart of this extraordinary saga is "Saint Sixtus," a tempera-on-panel work created around 1454, believed to be among the final pieces painted by Fra Angelico before his death in 1455. Fra Angelico, born around 1395, was a Dominican friar and celebrated painter of the early Florentine Renaissance, renowned for his frescoes at Florence's Convent of San Marco under Cosimo de' Medici's patronage. The painting was originally intended as the left wing of a triptych, with another panel now held by the Fogg Art Museum in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Saint Sixtus, the painting's subject, converted to Christianity as an adult before serving as a deacon in Rome. He was consecrated as Pope on August 30, 257 A.D., but was beheaded less than a year later, achieving immediate sainthood following his martyrdom. His feast day is celebrated on August 7.
The Bich Family's Claim and the Painting's Journey
Gonzalve, Charles and Guillaume Bich, grandsons of Baron Marcel Bich who founded the ballpoint pen, razor and disposable lighter empire bearing an abbreviated version of the family name, are pursuing the painting's return. Their complaint, filed in New York County Supreme Court, details that Marcel Bich purchased "Saint Sixtus" for £130,000 at a Sotheby's "Important Old Master Paintings" sale on December 6, 1972.
Following Marcel's death in 1994, his son Bruno inherited the painting and placed it in trust for his three sons. The artwork hung in Bruno's Upper East Side apartment until 2006, when it mysteriously vanished. The complaint alleges the family's chauffeur, Roy Morrow, stole the masterpiece either from the apartment at 960 Fifth Avenue or during the family's move to 935 Fifth Avenue.
Bruno Bich repeatedly questioned his wife Veronique about the painting's disappearance but received only evasive responses or inconsistent explanations. He died in 2021 without ever learning the artwork's fate or location. The family never publicized the theft for security reasons.
The Suspicious Art Market Transactions
Unbeknownst to the Bich family, Morrow had approached renowned art dealer Richard Feigen years earlier to sell "Saint Sixtus," despite having no paperwork or proof of ownership. The complaint contends that Feigen should have recognized numerous red flags: Morrow was a company chauffeur with no art-collecting background, no documented means, and no plausible explanation for possessing a multimillion-dollar masterpiece.
Nevertheless, Feigen purchased the painting from Morrow for $3 million, then insured it for $8.5 million—nearly three times what he paid. The complaint alleges Feigen intentionally overlooked the suspicious circumstances, driven by potential profit. In 2018, Feigen consigned "Saint Sixtus" to Christie's, which sold it to Colombian industrialist Alvaro Saieh and his wife for $5.4 million. Feigen died of COVID-19 three years later.
The Legal Pursuit and Settlement Attempts
In 2023, Bruno's sons discovered that "Saint Sixtus" had resurfaced in Saieh's possession. After hiring investigators to reconstruct events, they demanded the painting's return from Saieh at the end of 2024. When Saieh refused, they sent a demand letter to Feigen's widow and estate executor, Isabelle Harnoncourt-Feigen, seeking proceeds from the sale. Settlement negotiations with both parties ultimately failed, prompting the lawsuit.
The Bich brothers now seek a court order forcing Saieh to return the painting and requiring Harnoncourt-Feigen and the Feigen estate to disgorge any profits from its sale, plus compensatory and punitive damages. Christie's and Morrow are not named as defendants in the suit.
Broader Implications and Family History
Former FBI agent Robert Wittman, founder of the bureau's Art Crime Team, emphasized that everyone involved with stolen art becomes a victim, including good-faith buyers. "The couple who bought the Fra Angelico here, they are victims of the theft," Wittman told The Independent. "They paid good money for something they can't own."
This isn't the Bich family's first art-related legal entanglement. In 2020, Bruno Bich sued his ex-wife Veronique for the return of 28 works he claimed she refused to surrender, including pieces by Jean Dubuffet and Pablo Picasso. Veronique Bich has also taken her sons to court multiple times over control of the family fortune.
The statute of limitations for the Bichs' case began tolling when they discovered the painting's whereabouts through extensive document analysis. They now have between three and six years to pursue their claim, with potential settlement outcomes including a discounted buyout or profit-sharing agreement if the artwork is sold.
