The 1903 painting, Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto, was expected to fetch between £30m and £40m at the sale where total receipts could reach £230m. A Monet water-lily painting expected to fetch between £30m and £40m failed to sell at the Christie's event, which also featured works by Magritte and Van Gogh.

The Picasso, described by Christie's earlier this year as "one of the most important works of art to be offered at auction in decades", was owned by the Andrew Lloyd Webber Art Foundation.