HONG KONG (AFP) - Picasso masterpieces worth millions of dollars are to go on sale in Hong Kong Friday as dealers cash in on growing interest from wealthy investors looking for art beyond Chinas borders. Sothebys is hosting an exhibition of the Spanish artists work that will also offer collectors the chance to buy pieces from across Picassos career. The auction house has announced an exhibition and sale of works by Impressionist and modern painters, ranging in price from two million to 25 million US dollars. It will include pieces by Renoir, Chagall, Degas and Monet, though works by Picasso are expected to steal the spotlight. The sale showcases works from across much of Picassos life, including his Blue Period, Cubism and Neoclassicism from the 1920s, and his post-1960 Expressionist paintings. The star of the exhibition is Jeune Fille aux Cheveux Noirs (Dora Maar), a 1939 portrait of the artists lover, Dora Maar. The most exciting and active growth in collecting today is occurring in China and other countries in Asia, said David Norman, co-chairman of Sothebys impressionist and modern art department. We wanted to bring great works of art directly and exclusively to that audience. Unlike an auction, the Hong Kong sale will see buyers pay the asking price for a painting, although the figure could go higher if more than one buyer wants a particular piece. The southern Chinese city of seven million people has become the worlds third-largest auction hub after New York and London, thanks in large part to Chinas growing political and economic prowess. Mainland Chinese are regular buyers of the top lots at sales of art, jewellery and wine, reflecting their growing wealth and increasingly sophisticated tastes. In October, an Asian buyer bought a 1965 Picasso painting Le Modele dans lAtelier for 16 million Hong Kong dollars (2.1 million US) at an auction in Hong Kong by South Korea-based Seoul Auction.