PARIS: A previously unknown portrait by Pablo Picasso of his muse Dora Maar has been unveiled in Paris and put up for auction with a reserve price of eight million euros (about RM39.65 million).
Titled Bust of a Woman With a Flowery Hat, the 80 x 60 cm oil painting, dated July 11, 1943, has remained in private hands since it was acquired in 1944 by the grandfather of its current anonymous owners.
Specialists describe the work as “exceptional” because it has never been exhibited publicly, aside from Picasso’s studio during the German occupation of Paris in World War II.
The portrait captures Maar, a French photographer, painter, and poet, with a melancholic expression under a vivid floral hat.
It was painted at a turbulent moment when Picasso was distancing himself from Maar and beginning a relationship with Francoise Gilot.
Maar was central to Picasso’s creative output, inspiring over 60 works, including the famous Weeping Woman series. She also collaborated on Guernica, documenting its creation through photographs that informed Picasso’s process. Their passionate but stormy affair lasted nine years, leaving Maar deeply affected after their breakup.
Auctioneers suggest the piece could sell for far more than its reserve, given the rarity of such portraits and the significance of Maar in Picasso’s oeuvre.
“A painting, and moreover a portrait of Dora Maar, is rare. For it to be sold in France is even rarer,” said Olivier Picasso, the artist’s grandson. Experts also note its unusually bright palette for 1943, a year when many of Picasso’s works reflected wartime gloom.
The sale comes at a time when Picasso’s market value has softened, with total sales in 2024 reaching $223 million, down sharply from $597 million the year before.
However, previous Dora Maar portraits have fetched enormous sums, such as Dora Maar au chat ($95 million, 2006) and Femme assise dans un jardin ($49 million, 1999).
The current offering forms part of an inheritance settlement and is expected to draw international interest, given Picasso’s enduring status as a market bellwether. – AFP
