Lloyd Webber to share art

So far, only Andrew Lloyd Webber’s house guests have had a chance to enjoy them, but now the composer’s art treasures, including works by Canaletto and Picasso, are being shown to a wider audience.

About 300 works from Lloyd Webber’s country home, Sydmonton, west of London, will go on display today at the Royal Academy of Arts in London for three months.

Lloyd Webber, 58, said Tuesday that he can’t put a value on the paintings in the exhibit. But Picasso’s portrait of a male friend, titled “Angel Fernandez de Soto,” alone is reported to be worth about $29 million.

The composer, who made his fortune from stage hits including “Cats,” “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Evita,” wants his collection to go on permanent display after his death. But he said: “I’m not going to leave it to the nation -- it’d go to a museum where they never hang half the stuff, and it will go into a basement somewhere. I want my own gallery where it is available for everyone to come and see it.”