A previously unseen painting by Pablo Picasso, titled “Bust of a Woman in a Flowery Hat,” depicting his muse and lover Dora Maar, has resurfaced after 80 years and will be auctioned in Paris this October. Painted on July 11, 1943, amid the Nazi occupation of Paris, the oil painting measures 80 by 60 centimeters and presents Maar wearing a vibrant, colorful floral hat with a melancholic expression.
The work was acquired in 1944 by a private French collector and has remained in the family, never before publicly exhibited or auctioned. The painting captures a significant period in Picasso’s life as his relationship with Maar was ending, and the atmosphere of occupied Paris heavily influenced the emotional tone of the portrait. Picasso produced about 60 works featuring Maar, who was a photographer, painter, and a central figure in his life and art during the late 1930s and early 1940s.
Auction house Lucien Paris will offer the painting on October 24 at Hôtel Drouot, with a reserve price set at €8 million (approximately $9.5 million). Art experts anticipate that the final price may greatly exceed the estimate, given Picasso’s enduring influence and the rarity of such a piece coming to market. The painting is seen as an exceptional milestone not only in Picasso’s oeuvre but also in art history, symbolizing both the personal and political turmoil of its time.
This auction event marks a rare opportunity for collectors and the public to witness a pivotal Picasso portrait long hidden from view and encapsulates the artist’s intense emotional and creative state during one of the darkest periods in European history.
Cover Image: Pablo Picasso, Buste de femme au chapeau à fleurs (Dora Maar) (1943). Courtesy Lucien Paris.
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