A man hired to move the extensive art collection of a New York man who died without a will has been charged with the theft of two Pablo Picasso drawings valued at $60,000 US.

The mover, Nahum Kohen, 38, and his mother-in-law, Ori Lellouch, 56, were arrested Thursday in Queens, N.Y.

The Picasso drawings, of a guitar and a mandolin, have been recovered, investigators said.

The drawings came from the apartment of William Kingsland, a Manhattan collector who died in March without leaving a will and with no close relatives.

A public administrator's office, which handles the estates of people who die without a will, had hired a consulting firm to document Kingsland's collection.

But the drawings were discovered to be missing in June, a month after a mover took them out of the apartment to be stored in a warehouse.

Kohen has been charged with second-degree grand larceny and second-degree criminal possession of stolen property, and Lellouch has been charged with criminal possession of stolen property.

Kohen's lawyer says his client is not guilty. Wire services were unable to get a comment from Lellouch.

With files from the Associated Press