The baroness wife of the heir to the Bic pen fortune filed for divorce Friday, court records show.
Veronique Bich filed a contested divorce in Manhattan Supreme Court from Bic former CEO Bruno Bich — the son of Marcel Bich, who founded French company Société Bic in 1945.
The divorce follows a dispute over the family’s art collection — including works by Pablo Picasso and Andy Warhol — which was made public in May after Bruno filed suit against Veronique in Delaware state court, Artnet reported at the time.
Bruno, 73, alleged that his estranged wife refused to give up “millions of dollars’ worth of artwork” in the pair’s New York and Paris apartments, despite the fact that the works belonged to a family trust set up by his dad in 1993 — of which Veronique isn’t a beneficiary, the outlet reported.
The disputed collection is comprised of 28 art pieces including sculptures by Alberto Giacometti, a drawing by Andy Warhol, a 1937 “Portrait of Dora Maar” by Picasso, two Balthus paintings and a paper collage by Jean Dubuffet, according to the report.
While the couple is married on paper, they have been living apart, and Veronique had wanted to split since 2017, Artnet reported.
Bruno said he had asked for the art to be returned on multiple occasions but that Veronique claimed the works should be divvied up through any divorce agreement the couple may enter into, the outlet reported.
Bruno asked a judge to rule that the works are apart of the family trust and to stop his wife from keeping or selling the pieces, according to the report. That case is still pending, court records show.
Veronique’s lawyer, Lawrence Trachtenberg, declined to comment.
Bruno did not return a request for comment.