DISOWNED PICASSO PAINTING TO HAVE US DEBUT

A PAINTING DISOWNED BY PABLO PICASSO IS EXPECTED TO HAVE ITS AMERICAN DEBUT IN A MAJOR EXHIBIT OF HIS WORK AT NEW YORK CITY'S METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART, THOUGH IT'S UNLIKELY TO BE A HIGHLIGHT OF THE SHOW. QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN RAISED ABOUT THE AUTHENTICITY OF THE PAINTING, WHICH IS CALLED 'EROTIC SCENE' AND SHOWS A NAKED WOMAN NESTLING HER HEAD IN A MAN'S LAP. BUT THE MET'S CURATOR OF THE 19th CENTURY, MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART SAYS THAT WASN'T THE REASON IT HAD BEEN KEPT IN STORAGE SINCE IT BEING ACQUIRED IN 1982. CURATOR GARY TINTEROW SAYS IT WAS SIMPLY 'NOT VERY GOOD'. HE CALLS IT 'SLAPDASH'. MAYBE THAT'S WHY PICASSO SAID THE PAINTING WAS 'A JOKE BY FRIENDS'. TINTEROW SAYS MET RESEARCHERS CONFIRMED IT WAS BY PICASSO BEFORE INCLUDING IT IN THE SHOW OF 300 WORKS OPENING 17.APRIL.