'Unknown' Pablo Picasso Work Up for Auction in France

Valued at R$50 million, an 'unknown' Pablo Picasso work is up for auction in France; discover it.
'Bust of a Woman with a Flower Hat,' a portrait never before shown to the public, will be auctioned in October.
A portrait by Spanish painter Pablo Picasso of his muse Dora Maar was unveiled this Thursday at an auction house in Paris, France. It is a painting virtually "unknown" to the general public, according to experts who revealed it. Titled "Buste de femme au chapeau à fleurs (Dora Maar)"—"Bust of a Woman with a Flower Hat" in English—the work was painted in July 1943 and has remained in the same family since 1944.
The painting is considered "unknown" because it has never been exhibited, except in a private showing organized by the artist himself in his studio in the 1940s, explained auctioneer Christophe Lucien.

In a Cubist style and full of color, it shows Dora Maar's face adorned with flowers and a sad expression. It is "valued at eight million euros" (approximately R$50 million), according to Lucien.
Auction in October
When Picasso painted it, he already knew his future partner, Françoise Gilot. For Sevestre-Barbé, this may explain the look of sadness on Dora Maar's face.

"It's an exceptional work, which marks a milestone in the history of art and in Picasso's history," said Agnès Sevestre-Barbé, a Picasso expert who presented the portrait.

The painting will be auctioned on October 24th.

Until now, scholars of the Spanish master only knew the work in black and white, thanks to Picasso's official catalog. The portrait had been authenticated by the Picasso Administration, according to the Drouot auction house.

Some photographs by Brassaï, a friend of the painter, taken in his Parisian studio, also attested to the painting's existence.

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