"A vividly hued Picasso portrait of longtime muse and partner Dora Maar that had remained hidden from public view for more than eight decades sold Friday at auction for 32 million euros (about $37 million), including fees surpassing expectations but far from the artist's most expensive work ever auctioned. Painted in July 1943, "Bust of a Woman with a Flowered Hat (Dora Maar)" depicts Maar in a brightly colored floral hat."
"She was 29 when she met the artist and quickly became his muse and the model for "Guernica," among other works. He later left her for the younger Francoise Gilot and she died at 89, having lived an increasingly reclusive life. Theirs "was not a very simple story," Lucien said, adding that the painting came at the end of it. "You see that she was containing tears because she understood that Picasso was leaving her.""
A vividly hued Picasso portrait of Dora Maar sold at Drouot auction house in Paris for 32,012,397 euros including buyer fees, surpassing estimates. The work, painted in July 1943 and part of Picasso's Woman in a Hat series, depicts Maar wearing a brightly colored floral hat and reflects the painful end of their relationship. The painting was bought in 1944 and remained in the family's collection until this sale. Auctioneer Christophe Lucien called the outcome an enormous success and emotional, and noted the price was the highest paid at auction this year in France. Specialist Agnes Sevestre-Barbe noted the portrait's vividness and that it was not varnished, preserving its original studio appearance.
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