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Previously Unseen 1943 Picasso Portrait of Dora Maar Unveiled in Paris for October 24 Auction

The authenticated canvas surfaces from a single family’s collection with an €8 million reserve at Hôtel Drouot.

Overview

  • Signed and dated July 11, 1943, the oil on canvas measures 80 by 60 centimeters and depicts Dora Maar wearing a flowered hat.
  • The Administration Picasso confirmed authenticity, matching its entry in the catalogue raisonné that had circulated only in black and white.
  • Brassaï’s studio photographs from the 1940s were presented to corroborate the painting’s presence in Picasso’s workspace.
  • Acquired in August 1944 by a noted French collector, the work is being sold by his heirs as part of a succession.
  • Experts describe a blend of naturalist and cubist traits with unusually bright colors for the Occupation period.