Pablo Picasso painting worth millions for auction in Cologne

 

COLOGNE – Works of the great art master, Pablo Picasso are up for auction in the German city of Cologne.

The works include Picasso’s painting “Buste de femme” (Bust of a Woman), which he created two years before his death in 1971, is due to be auctioned in the German city of Cologne on Monday for an estimated €1.5 million to €2.5 million ($1.6 million-$2.7 million).

It is the first time in at least 25 years that a major painting by the Spanish artist is being auctioned in Germany, according to the auction house Van Ham.

Art historians recognize in the painting Picasso’s second wife, Jacqueline Roque (1927-86), from whose estate it originally came.

It now comes from a German private collection with an estimated total value of €10 million. It also includes works by Louise Bourgeois, Paul Klee, Sigmar Polke, Egon Schiele and Kurt Schwitters.

Picasso, who died 50 years ago, created a total of 400 portraits of Roque, who was 46 years his junior.

The former ceramics saleswoman later forbade his children to attend Picasso’s funeral service. She died in 1986.