Picasso painting worth millions to be auctioned in Cologne

Pablo 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, reported dpa.

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.