Lloyd-Webber Sells His Picasso

A Picasso bought 11 years ago by Lord Lloyd-Webber for the nation is to be put on sale for an estimated £30m - and is likely to go to an American or Russian art buyer. The portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto, painted in 1903, is predicted to fetch a world record price for a work from the artist’s blue period. The work, owned by Lloyd-Webber’s art foundation, will be sold on November 8 at Christie’s in New York. Critics are concerned by the prospect of such an important art work going abroad, particularly when the stated aims of Lloyd-Webber’s charity include “acquiring exceptional works of art for the nation”. It has been suggested that some money from the sale may go towards music bursaries. For the full story - click the title Irish Art