May 31 (Bloomberg) -- A painting of Madonna, shown nude on a bed with her former husband Guy Ritchie, failed to sell yesterday at an auction.

The picture by Peter Howson, “Madonna & Guy,” had been expected to fetch between 15,000 pounds ($24,300) and 22,000 pounds at the Scottish auction house McTear’s, based in Glasgow.

“It was a surprise it didn’t sell,” Brian Clements, the McTear’s art specialist, said in an interview after the auction. “It generated the most press coverage we’ve ever had for a painting. Maybe it generated too much publicity and people were put off by the hype. It should find a buyer in the next couple of weeks, though.”

The painting had been commissioned from Howson in 2005 by a Scottish collector who was the seller at the auction, said Clements. It was one of a number of paintings the Glasgow-based artist has produced of the rock star, he said.

Madonna, 50, and Ritchie, 40, were divorced in November 2008. They were married in Scotland in June 2001 at a ceremony at Skibo Castle, near Inverness, during which the director of “Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels” wore a kilt. Gwyneth Paltrow, Donatella Versace and Stella McCartney were among the guests.

Howson is a member of the “New Glasgow Boys” group. In June 2007 a record 102,000 pounds with fees was paid at Sotheby’s, London, for his painting “The Temptation of St. Anthony.”

(Scott Reyburn writes about the art market for Bloomberg News. Opinions expressed are his own.)

To contact the writer on the story: Scott Reyburn in London at sreyburn@hotmail.com.

Last Updated: May 31, 2009 10:27 EDT