Picasso masterpieces to go on sale in blockbuster auction

Some of the paintings up for auction were on show at the Bellagio's Picasso restaurant in Las Vegas

Some 11 Picasso paintings and works owned by casino and hotel group MGM Resorts in Las Vegas are due to go up for auction in October.

The sale include five paintings, some of which were displayed at the Bellagio hotel's Picasso restaurant, and whose combined worth is estimated at $100m.

MGM Resorts says it wants to improve the diversity of its fine art collection.

The auction coincides with the 140th anniversary of the artist's birth.

The sale, which also includes works on paper and ceramics that span more than 50 years of artistic output, will take place on 23 October at the Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas.

The restaurant will continue to show an additional 12 Picasso works.

Picasso's Femme au béret rouge-orange, painted in 1938, is expected to sell for $20m to $30m

The 1938 portrait Femme au béret rouge-orange, featuring his lover and muse Marie-Thérèse Walter, is expected to sell for between $20m and $30m (£14.4m and £21.7m).

Another painting expected to do well is the large-scaled portrait entitled Homme et Enfant, painted in 1969, which is valued at $30m, while another large-scale portrait, Buste d'homme, has a presale estimate of $15m.

Large-scale portraits Homme et Enfant (L) and Buste d'homme (R)

Also included in the sale is Nature morte au panier de fruits et aux fleurs, a still life painted by Picasso during the Nazi occupation of Paris in 1942 and valued at $10m-$15m.

Nature morte au panier de fruits et aux fleurs

The collection was started more than 20 years ago by US casino mogul Steve Wynn, former owner of the Bellagio and former chief executive of Wynn Resorts, who has since stepped down amid sexual misconduct allegations.

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