Rare Picasso canvas back on show

Picasso signed the reproduction for a touring ballet

The world's largest signed Pablo Picasso canvas, which has not been seen in public for 20 years, was unveiled in London on Tuesday.

A 10-metre high reproduction of his work Deux Femmes Courant Sur La Plage is on show at the Royal Opera House.

The painting was copied from the original in 1924 by a scene painter for use as a stage curtain in a ballet.

It will go on permanent display at London's Theatre Museum as part of a £12m redevelopment.

The work was copied for use in the touring ballet Le Train Bleu. Picasso was so impressed that he signed the reproduction.

It will become a major feature of the Theatre Museum, which is having its exhibition space doubled in size by the redevelopment.

At present the museum - a branch of the Victoria and Albert Museum - does not have the space to show exhibits of that size. But it will eventually become a focal point in the entrance hall.