By Damian Fowler BBC News

Andrew Lloyd Webber bought the painting for $28m in 1995

A 1903 Picasso painting, which was to have been auctioned by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber, has been withdrawn at the last minute due to its Nazi-era history.

A descendant of a previous owner claims his ancestors were forced by the Nazis to sell the painting in the 1930s.

The piece, Portrait of Angel Fernandez de Soto, was predicted to fetch up to $60m (�31.5m).

The auction had been touted as a once in a lifetime art sale by Christie's auction house.

TOP 10 AUCTION SALES Gar�on � la pipe by Pablo Picasso - May 2004 - $104.1m Dora Maar au Chat by Pablo Picasso - May 2006 - $95.2m Portrait of Dr Gachet by Vincent van Gogh - May 1990 - $82.5m Bal au moulin de la Galette, Montmartre by Pierre-Auguste Renoir - May 1990 - $78m Massacre of the Innocents by Peter Paul Rubens - July 2002 - $76.7m Portrait de l'artiste sans barbe by Vincent van Gogh - November 1998 - $65m Rideau, Cruchon et Compotier by Paul C�zanne - May 1999 - $60.5m Femme aux Bras Crois�s by Pablo Picasso - November 2000 - $50m Irises by Vincent van Gogh - November 1987 - $49m Les Noces de Pierrette by Pablo Picasso - November 1989 - $49m

Julius Schoeps, an heir to Berlin banker Paul von Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, says his ancestor had to sell the Picasso at a low price after he was forced to flee his mansion during the 1930s.

But it is not the only painting in the sale with a Nazi connection. All eyes are on four paintings by Gustav Klimt, the Austrian artist, which were at the centre of a Nazi restitution case earlier this year.

That case was resolved to the satisfaction of the owners, who have now put these masterworks up for auction. They are predicted to go for more than $100m.

Another Klimt from the same group fetched the highest price ever paid for a painting when it was sold in June. New York's Neue Galerie is reported to have paid $135m for Klimt's Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer.