Unseen Pablo Picasso self-portrait goes on show in London

The self-portraits by Pablo Picasso and (left) and Francis Bacon will go on display from Tuesday

A 1901 self-portrait by Pablo Picasso that has not previously been exhibited in public will go on display in central London this week.

Self-portrait (Yo Picasso) depicts the Spanish artist and sculptor at the age of 30, looking directly at the viewer while painting by candlelight.

The piece will be displayed alongside a 1969 self-portrait by Francis Bacon and works by Geoff Koons and Damien Hirst.

The Self exhibition runs until 13 December at the Ordovas gallery.

Bacon's self-portrait, one of his first studies of a single head, has not been publicly exhibited in London for almost 50 years.

Koons' contribution, dating from 1991, comprises a white marble bust atop a base of crystalline shapes.

The exhibition also includes Hirst's With Dead Head, a photograph of the British artist in 1992 posing with the head of a corpse.

According to gallery owner Pilar Ordovas, it was Hirst who suggested the exhibition's title and that Koons be invited to participate.