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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial
ARTICLE VIEW:
Picasso painting unseen for 80 years up for auction
By Billy Stockwell, CNN
Updated:
9:23 AM EDT, Fri September 19, 2025
Source: CNN
An oil painting by , unseen by the public for more than 80 years, will
go under the hammer in Paris next month.
The painting, “Bust of a Woman in a Flowery Hat,” depicts French
photographer and painter — one of Picasso’s lovers and most famous
muses — wearing a bright, flowery hat made up of pastel green, blue
and yellow strokes.
Despite the vivid color palate, Maar’s expression is one of concern.
Created in July 1943, during the Nazi occupation of Paris, the work is
a “canvas of major historical and artistic importance, all the more
as it remained unseen by the public for over eighty years,” according
to art expert Agnès Sevestre-Barbé.
“It was in May 1943 that Picasso met the young painter Françoise
Gilot, who, after the war, would bring a clearer, brighter spirit to
his work. But in the summer of 1943, Dora remained his principal
model,” Sevestre-Barbé said in an essay published online by , which
is selling the painting.
The newly discovered portrait of Maar was acquired in 1944 by an
unnamed collector and has remained in his family ever since. “To our
knowledge, it has never been exhibited nor appeared at auction,”
Sevestre-Barbé said.
It is expected to sell for at least $9.45 million, according to Reuters
news agency. CNN has approached Lucien Paris for comment.
Dutch art historian Arthur Brand told CNN on Friday that he expects the
painting to sell for a higher price than estimates suggest.
“Picasso, as we all know, is one of the greatest artists of the 20th
century, and so every time something like this pops up it’s
exciting,” Brand said. “Sometimes paintings have been in the same
family for decades, in this case since 1944.”
Brand, an art crime investigator who has recovered more than 200 works
of art, including ones by Picasso, said the depiction of Maar in the
painting “gives a more sad impression” than some of his earlier
portraits of her, adding: “It seems like she is crying.”
Several factors could have influenced this somber tone. Not only had
the pair’s relationship “more or less ended,” Brand said, but at
the time of painting the Nazis were still occupying Paris.
“Picasso probably was worried that he would never be able to sell or
exhibit again, so maybe his own sadness is also reflected in this
painting,” Brand added.
Picasso painted Maar many times, most famously in the guise of the
“Weeping Woman” in 1937 – a work that powerfully conveys the
emotional impact of the Spanish Civil War – but also “Portrait of
Dora Maar” (1937) and “Dora Maar au Chat” (1941).
Born Henriette Theodora Markovitch in 1907, Maar grew up between
Argentina and France. She studied in Paris before moving into
commercial and fashion photography.
A photographer and artist in her own right, Marr recognised the
limitations that her turbulent relationship with Picasso brought to her
own career. “I’m still too famous as Picasso’s mistress to be
accepted as a painter,” she once said, according to her friend, the
American art writer James Lord.
Maar also told Lord that Picasso’s portraits of her were “lies.”
Later in her life, Maar mostly withdrew from photography and
concentrated on painting, also finding solace in poetry, religion and
philosophy, according to London’s Tate Modern art gallery.
The 81- x 60-centimeter (32- x 24-inch) painting, which is signed in
the upper-left corner of the canvas, will be auctioned on October 24.
A certificate of authenticity from the Comité Picasso — a committee
established to verify the originality of the artist’s works — will
be issued to the buyer, the auction house said.
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