March 27, 2012 - 21:07 AMT
Christie's to auction rare Cezanne watercolor study

A rare watercolor study by Paul Cezanne believed lost and last seen in 1953 will be auctioned in New York City where it's expected to fetch up to $20 million, AP reported.

It's being offered May 1 at Christie's.

The work was rediscovered this year in the collection of the late Dr. Heinz Eichenwald, a well-known pediatrics expert from Texas. It's a study for one of the French Post-impressionist's paintings in the series "Card Players," created between 1890 and 1896.

The five-painting series was recently part of a traveling exhibition organized by the Metropolitan Museum of Art and London's Courtauld Gallery.

It depicts a card player wearing a hat and jacket, rendered in hues of blue and ochre.

It was previously known only from a black-and-white photograph.