Pablo Picasso's painting to go on auction at price of US$255,000

A painting from Pablo Picasso's early Cubist period will go on auction in Sweden's capital next month, an auction house spokeswoman said Friday. The 1920 oil painting "Guitare Et Partition Sur Gueridon," or "Guitar And Score On A Pedestal Table", will go under the hammer Nov. 4 at Stockholm's Auktionsverk, Anna Hamilton said.

"It is very exciting to have such an early (Picasso)," Hamilton said. "He was extremely productive, but it is still pretty unusual that a Picasso gets out on the market like this."

The asking price will be 2 million kronor (US$255,000), Hamilton said, according to the AP.

"Then we will see what happens," she said. "There will definitely be a large international interest."

The auction house did not reveal the Swedish owner of the painting.

Picasso, whose most significant contribution to modern art was Cubism, died in 1973 at his home near Mougins, France, at age 91. He was born in Malaga, Spain.

T.E.