(Agencies)
Updated: 2008-03-31 23:44

LONDON - A nude painting by Pablo Picasso when he was aged about 20 has been found in the bedroom of a house in south-west England, the auctioneers selling it said Monday.

A Picasso exhibition at the Reina Sofia Museum in Madrid. A nude painting by Pablo Picasso when he was aged about 20 has been found in the bedroomhave said. [Agencies]

"Etreinte" (Embrace), a watercolour, shows a nude Picasso entwined in an intimate embrace with his girlfriend Louise Lenoir, known as Odette.

It was painted in 1901 or 1902, when the Spanish artist would have been 20 or 21 and still struggling for recognition, and was authenticated by Picasso in 1969.

The work was found stacked with two works by other major artists -- George Stubbs and Alfred Munnings, both of whom specialised in painting horses.

"It was a breathtaking find to discover these paintings that were stacked against the wall of a house," Guy Schwinge of auctioneers Duke's said in comments quoted by the British media.

"To find just one of these works would have been incredible -- but to find three was quite exceptional."

Each work is expected to sell for up to 100,000 pounds (126,000 euros, 199,000 dollars) when they go on sale on April 10.

The identity of the owner is unknown but is believed to be a member of an international royal family, British media reported.