Picasso's 'forgotten muse' returns after more than 80 years

A portrait of Dora Maar, Picasso's muse and lover, has just been sold for 32 million euros at an auction in Paris after more than 80 years of being absent from the public eye.

Buste de femme au chapeau fleuri (Dora Maar) is 80x60cm in size, created by Picasso in oil - Photo: EPA

The work, titled Buste de femme au chapeau fleuri (Dora Maar), was painted by Picasso in July 1943, during World War II.

According to Reuters , the painting was bought by a French family in 1944 and kept secret for decades, leaving the art world only aware of it through a black and white photo from the 1940s.

The painting shows Dora Maar wearing a colorful flowered hat, her face distorted in Picasso's signature cubist style.

Critics say the work is both beautiful and emotionally complex, reflecting the passionate but fractured relationship between the Spanish artist and his lover.

Picasso and Dora Maar - Photo: The Times

The auction took place at the Drouot auction house in Paris, attracting a large number of collectors. The hammer price stopped at 27 million euros, and after adding fees, the total value reached more than 32 million euros (nearly 978 billion VND). Previously, the painting was only valued at 8 million euros - Photo: LP

"This is undoubtedly Picasso's most moving work involving a 'muse,' because he was about to leave Dora Maar for the French artist Francoise Gilot," said auctioneer Christophe Lucien.

"And in this portrait, we see a woman trying to hold back tears. So it's a lucky thing for a bidder to see a historical work of art."

This is the first time the public has been able to see the painting since it disappeared from public view in the 1940s.

Dora Maar, real name Henriette Theodora Markovitch, was a French surrealist painter and photographer. She was a major inspiration during Picasso's turbulent creative period and documented the process of creating his masterpiece Guernica (right) in 1937.

In Picasso's eyes, Dora embodied intellectual beauty and melancholy, emotions often seen in his portraits of her.

The reappearance of Buste de femme au chapeau fleuri after more than eight decades is considered by the art world as a rare event, not only because of its commercial value, but also because of its historical significance, when Picasso's "forgotten muse" finally returned to the public.

Art expert Agnes Sevestre-Barbe said the heirs decided to sell the painting because they could not divide it equally.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/nang-tho-bi-lang-quen-cua-picasso-tro-lai-sau-hon-80-nam-20251026194117407.htm