Picasso portrait of muse up for sale

LONDON - A late Picasso portrait of his paramour Jacqueline Roque is going up for auction for the first time, with an estimated price of up to $30 million, Christie's auction house said on Wednesday. Christie's will offer Femme accroupie (Jacqueline) - Crouching Woman (Jacqueline) - at a Nov 13 sale in New York.

Painted in October 1954, the portrait hung for years in Picasso's private collection and has rarely been seen in public.

Christie's global president, Jussi Pylkkanen, says it is "a museum-quality painting" of "one of Picasso's most elegant muses". Roque was married to the artist from 1961 until his death in 1973.