PARIS: A previously unknown portrait by Pablo Picasso of French artist Dora Maar — the painter’s best-known muse — sold for €32 million euros (US$37 million) in Paris on Friday, auction house Drouot told AFP.
Entitled “Bust of a Woman With a Flowery Hat”, the oil portrait of photographer, painter and poet Maar is a riot of colours and thick, black lines.
It was “sold to a foreign buyer present in the room”, the auction house said.
The Spanish master painted it on July 11, 1943 and it was acquired in August 1944 by a private French collector, grandfather of the former anonymous owners.
The sale far outstripped the reserve price of €8 million (US$9.5 million).
Picasso sales are used as a leading indicator for the art market as a whole, which has slumped in recent years.