Last March the revered Nude, Green Leaves and Bustwas viewed by the British public for the first time available at the Tate Modern in the new Pablo Picasso room.  In May the painting had sold for a record $106.5 million (£65.5 million) at Christie’s in New York. The work features Marie-Therese Walter, the model and lover of the artist, whom Picasso first met in 1927. It is only one of a series of his muse, but the most favored.

Painted on March 8, 1932, Nude, Green Leaves and Bust is the most intensely hued and energetic of the nude pieces Picasso rendered at what is considered by some scholars as the highest point of his creative output. The piece is currently showing next to other Picasso works in the museum’s collection.

Before its auction and public debut, the piece had been with LA based collectors Sidney and Frances Brody for nearly six decades. According to a Tate press release, “They had acquired the work in 1951 from Paul Rosenberg & Co., Paris and New York whom in turn had acquired it from the artist in 1936. During that period it had been exhibited publicly only once, in 1961, to commemorate Picasso’s 80^th birthday. The lender wishes to remain anonymous.”

Thanks to this lender’s generosity the British public is in for a rare treat.  An art exhibition exploring links between the artist and Britain will open at the museum in the following year.