Picasso work torn by falling museum patron

NEW YORK, Jan. 25 (UPI) -- Officials at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art said a hole torn in a Picasso painting by a stumbling patron can be fully repaired.

The officials said "The Actor," a painting created by Pablo Picasso in 1904-1905, sustained a 6-inch tear in the bottom of its canvas when an unidentified woman attending an adult education class at the museum tripped and fell into the work, the New York Daily News reported Monday.

"Fortunately, the damage did not occur in a focal point of the composition," the museum said in a statement.

The statement said the painting will be fully repaired in time to go on display as part of a large Picasso exhibit April 27.