Picasso painting held in private collection sells for $31 million at Paris auction

By Ardee NAPOLITANO

PARIS (Reuters) -A painting by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, believed to be depicting his muse and partner Dora Maar, fetched 27 million euros ($31.49 million) at a Paris auction on Friday.

The work, titled “Bust of a Woman with a Flowered Hat (Dora Maar) 1943”, was acquired by a French family in 1944 and remained in their private collection for decades until its heirs decided to sell it.

The sale price including fees was 32 million euros, a spokesperson for the Drouot auction house said. The buyer was in the auction room, but was not identified.

The canvas had never been shown to the public before the auction and the only proof of its existence had been a 1944 picture of the painting, art experts said.

“It’s without a doubt the most moving work of Picasso that inv