A long-hidden Pablo Picasso painting depicting his muse Dora Maar has sold for €27 million ($31.49 million) at a Paris auction, the Drouot auction house announced.
Titled “Bust of a Woman with a Flowered Hat (Dora Maar)” and painted in 1943, the work had been held in a French family’s private collection since 1944 and had never been publicly displayed.
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“This is without a doubt one of Picasso’s most moving portrayals of Dora Maar,” said auctioneer Christophe Lucien. “Through this portrait, we see a woman holding back her tears.”
Art expert Agnes Sevestre-Barbe explained that the family’s heirs decided to sell the Picasso painting because it could not be divided among them. The final price, including fees, reached €32 million, with the buyer choosing to remain anonymous.