£40million will get you this rare 1901 Picasso painting

Rare and pricey Picasso painting

For almost £40million, a two-for-one offer has to be pretty special – and this one certainly is: a pair of Picassos on the same canvas.

The main attraction is the oil painting La Gommeuse, a 1901 nude from Picasso’s ‘blue period’. But on the back is an unseen portrait of the artist’s friend Pere Manach, only found beneath the frame’s lining during restoration work in 2000. 

Now the canvas is to go up for auction at Sotheby’s in New York and has an estimate of $60million (£39million).