Picasso’s Portrait of Dora Maar Sold in Paris for €32 Mln

A portrait of Dora Maar, one of Pablo Picasso’s most famous muses, has been sold for €32 mln ($37 mln) at the Hôtel Drouot auction house in Paris, according to the Associated Press.

The painting, titled «Bust of a Woman in a Flowered Hat (Dora Maar)», was created in July 1943 during the German occupation of Paris. It remained in the possession of one French family for over 80 years and had never been publicly exhibited. Until recently, its existence was known only through a black-and-white photograph. The buyer, who attended the auction in person, has not been identified.

Auctioneer Christophe Lucien described the sale as a historic moment, noting that the work had been preserved in its original condition. Art expert Agnès Sevestre-Barbé said the portrait «retained the intensity of its colors and the freshness with which it left the artist’s studio.»

The painting belongs to Picasso’s «Woman in a Hat» series, which he created toward the end of his relationship with Dora Maar, a photographer and painter in her own right.

While the sale price is remarkable, it falls short of Picasso’s record-breaking works — «Woman with a Watch», which sold for $139 mln, and «Women of Algiers (Version O)», which fetched $179 million. Experts say the discovery marks a rare reemergence of a previously unseen Picasso after decades in private hands.