Picasso portrait, once center of dispute, for sale

[March 17, 2010]  LONDON (AP) -- Christie's auction house says it will sell a celebrated Pablo Picasso portrait that was the subject of a dispute about its Nazi-era ownership.

"Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto" is expected to fetch between 30 million pounds and 40 million pounds ($45 million and $60 million) in London on June 23.

The 1903 portrait, from Picasso's Blue Period, is being sold by composer Andrew Lloyd Webber's charitable foundation. Proceeds will go to its work promoting the arts.

The painting was withdrawn from sale in New York in 2006 after the heir of a Berlin banker who owned it in the 1930s claimed his ancestor was forced to sell it under Nazi intimidation.

U.S. courts threw out the lawsuit. Christie's said the issue had been resolved "by agreement."

[Associated Press]

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