BRITISH COMPOSER ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER'S FOUNDATION WILL SELL A PICASSO PORTRAIT THAT IS EXPECTED TO FETCH OVER $40 MILLION AT AUCTION, WITH THE PROCEEDS BEING DONATED TO CHARITY, CHRISTIE'S SAID ON FRIDAY, ACCORDING TO REUTERS. THE 1903 WORK FROM THE ARTIST'S BLUE PERIOD, "ANGEL FERNANDEZ DE SOTO," WILL BE SOLD AT CHRISTIE'S FALL AUCTION OF IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN ART ON NOVEMBER 8. THE HAUNTING PORTRAIT OF PICASSO'S CLOSE FRIEND, WHO HE MET IN 1899 IN BARCELONA AND WITH WHOM HE REMAINED FRIENDS UNTIL DE SOTO'S DEATH DURING THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR, IS EXPECTED TO SELL FOR $40 MILLION TO $60 MILLION. IN RECENT YEARS, PICASSO PORTRAITS HAVE ACHIEVED REMARKABLE PRICES. HIS "BOY WITH A PIPE" HOLDS THE RECORD FOR ANY ART SOLD AT AUCTION AT $104 MILLION, WHILE A 1941 PORTRAIT OF HIS MISTRESS, "DORA MAAR WITH CAT," EXCEEDED $95 MILLION THIS SPRING -- MORE THAN DOUBLE THE EXPECTED SALE PRICE. "WE ARE THRILLED TO OFFER A WORK OF SUCH STATURE BY PICASSO," SAID GUY BENNETT, CHRISTIE'S HEAD OF IMPRESSIONIST AND MODERN ART IN NEW YORK. HE ADDED IN A STATEMENT THAT THE OIL-ON-CANVAS WAS "ONE OF THE MOST PERSONAL AND POWERFUL WORKS FROM THE BLUE PERIOD." THE RECORD FOR A BLUE PERIOD WORK IS $55 MILLION, SET IN 2000 BY "WOMAN WITH ARMS CROSSED." HE WILL MAKE NO PERSONAL GAIN FROM THE SALE, CHRISTIE'S SAID, WITH THE PROCEEDS BENEFITING "A VARIETY OF CHARITABLE PURPOSES" WHICH WERE NOT IDENTIFIED.
