New Picasso Portrait Unveiled At Paris Auction House
A previously unknown portrait by Pablo Picasso of one of his lovers was revealed on Thursday after being put up for sale at auction in Paris with a reserve price of eight million euros ($9.5 million).
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The artwork is named 'Bust of a Woman With a Flowery Hat'
France:
A newly discovered portrait by Pablo Picasso featuring one of his romantic partners was unveiled on Thursday at a Paris auction house, carrying a minimum bid price of eight million euros ($9.5 million).
The work, titled "Bust of a Woman With a Flowery Hat," portrays Dora Maar, a French photographer, painter and poet who was among Picasso's most significant muses.
This vibrant oil painting, measuring 80 x 60 centimetres (31 x 24 inches), "has been valued at approximately eight million euros, a starting price that could potentially climb much higher," according to Christophe Lucien from the Parisian auction house Drouot.
Picasso created this masterpiece on July 11, 1943, and it was purchased in August 1944 by a private French collector whose grandchildren are now the anonymous sellers.
Agnes Sevestre-Barbe, an expert on Picasso present during the artwork's unveiling, noted that it was "previously unknown to the public and never exhibited, except in the Spanish master's Paris studio" during the German occupation in World War II.
She further described it as "quite exceptional and a significant milestone in both art history and Picasso's career".
The portrait depicts Maar with a melancholy yet harmonious expression, adorned with a colorful flowery hat, painted during a period when the Spanish artist was leaving her for a younger woman, Francoise Gilot.
Maar served as Picasso's primary model and muse, inspiring approximately 60 works. She is famously featured in "The Weeping Woman" series, and the pair collaborated on his masterpiece "Guernica," with Maar photographing the black-and-white anti-war piece while Picasso used her images to develop the canvas.
Other renowned cubist representations of Maar include "Portrait of Dora Maar" and "Bust of a Woman".
Their volatile nine-year relationship, conducted almost entirely in Spanish, began in 1936 and is believed by some to have helped Picasso revitalize his artistic creativity.
Their difficult separation led Maar into depression, adding to the list of rejected women who suffered from Picasso's unfaithfulness and impulsive character.
Two others—former teenage lover Marie-Therese Walter and second wife Jacqueline Roque—eventually took their own lives.
'Rare sale'
The current owners of "Bust of a Woman With a Flowery Hat" ("Buste de femme au chapeau à fleurs" in French) are selling the artwork as part of an inheritance resolution.
"The bright colors are remarkable: it's 1943, a challenging year typically characterized by darker works," commented Olivier Picasso, the artist's grandson, to AFP after examining a photograph of the painting, which he hasn't yet viewed in person.
"A Picasso painting, particularly a portrait of Dora Maar, is uncommon. For it to be offered in France is extremely rare, as is its availability on the market generally," he added.
Pablo Picasso sales serve as a key indicator for the overall art market, which has experienced a downturn in recent years.
Picasso sales totaled $223 million in 2024, approximately one-third of the $597 million spent on the Spanish master's works the previous year, according to auction data from consultancy Artprice released in March.
Other paintings of Dora Maar have commanded prices significantly higher than the $9.5 million reserve for "Bust of a Woman With a Flowery Hat".
In 2006, "Dora Maar au chat" ("Dora Maar With Cat") sold for $95 million in New York, while "Femme assise dans un jardin" ("Woman Sat in a Garden") was purchased in 1999, also in New York, for $49 million.
The most recent major Picasso sale occurred in May this year at Sotheby's in New York, where "Homme assis," a 1969 painting of a seated musketeer, sold for $15.1 million.
The highest price ever paid for one of his works was for "The Women of Algiers (Version O)," a 1955 oil painting that fetched $179.4 million at Christie's in New York in 2015.