Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Rediscovered Picasso Dora Maar Portrait Goes to Auction in Paris

Specialists describe an unvarnished canvas that preserves full color, reshaping views of a work once seen only in black and white.

Art expert Agnes Sevestre-Barbe, right, and auction officer Christophe Lucien, display a rediscovered Picasso painting "Bust of a Woman in a Flowery Hat", Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025 in Paris. The portrait painted in 1943 will be sold at auction Friday in Paris, was bought in 1944 and shows his partner Dora Maar. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Art expert Agnes Sevestre-Barbe points to a rediscovered Picasso painting "Bust of a Woman in a Flowery Hat", Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025 in Paris. The portrait painted in 1943 will be sold at auction Friday in Paris, was bought in 1944 and shows his partner Dora Maar. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Art expert Agnes Sevestre-Barbe, right, and auction officer Christophe Lucien, stand by a rediscovered Picasso painting "Bust of a Woman in a Flowery Hat", Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2025 in Paris. The portrait painted in 1943 will be sold at auction Friday in Paris, was bought in 1944 and shows his partner Dora Maar. (AP Photo/Emma Da Silva)
Employees unveil a painting by French artist Pablo Picasso titled 'Bust of a Woman With a Flowery Hat' ahead of an auction in Paris

Overview

  • Drouot is auctioning Pablo Picasso's Bust of a Woman with a Flowered Hat (Dora Maar) on Friday in Paris.
  • Painted in July 1943, the portrait forms part of Picasso’s Woman in a Hat series.
  • The work was acquired in 1944 and remained in a private family collection for more than 80 years.
  • Picasso specialist Agnes Sevestre-Barbé says the painting left the studio unvarnished and retains its full chromatic range.
  • Auctioneer Christophe Lucien reports strong interest from buyers in the United States, Asia and Europe, while declining to provide a price estimate.