Erotic Picasso art sparks Greek school row: reports,

A Christie's employee holds a painting by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso

ATHENS (AFP) — A collection of erotic prints by Pablo Picasso has sparked a dispute in Salonika, northern Greece, after parents and school headmasters called into question whether they were suitable for minors, Greek media reported Saturday.<

Schools were initially banned from visiting the exhibition of Picasso's 'Suite 347' prints at the city's Telloglio Arts Centre this week.

But the decision was rescinded when an education inspector found that the offending prints were not being shown to schoolchildren visiting the exhibition.

"The works in question have been deemed unsuitable for pupils," local secondary education director Theodoulos Tapanidis told Kathimerini daily.

"We had to examine the issue after complaints arose," he said.

"The prints in question are in a separate area and were never part of the school tour anyway," a centre employee told AFP.

A series of 347 engravings on topics including the female nude, bullfighting and flamenco, 'Suite 347' was created by Picasso in 1968 at the age of 87.

Modern art often causes controversy in Greece where a large segment of the population is sensitive to issues involving the national anthem, the Greek flag and Orthodox Christian religion.

In 2003, a Belgian artist's painting featuring a penis facing a cross was removed from a state-funded exhibition in Athens after the Church and conservative lawmakers complained.

Last year, the director of another state-funded Athens art show was arrested on charges of obscenity and an attack on national symbols over a video display in which a woman masturbated to the Greek national anthem.

He was later acquitted in court.