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Picasso Painting Unseen For 80 Years Revealed At Paris Auction House 

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A newly discovered painting of the French photographer and painter Dora Maar done by Pablo Picasso has been unveiled after remaining unseen for 80 years. The painting was completed during the German occupation of Paris in July 1943. 

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‘Bust of a Woman in a Flowery Hat’ was finished towards the end of Picasso and Maar’s nine-year relationship. It’s described as showing Maar in a softer, more colorful light when compared to other portraits Picasso painted of her. 

One of the most famous paintings of Maar by Picasso is the ‘Portrait of Dora Maar and Dora Maar au Chat.’ Maar, however, has stated that: “All of his portraits of me are lies. They’re all Picassos. Not one is Dora Maar.”

Picasso and Maar met at the end of 1935 when she was taking photographs to promote Jean Renoir’s film The Crime of Monsieur Lange. At the time they met, Picasso was in a relationship with Marie-Thérèse Walter, and the two shared a daughter Maya. 

In the newly rediscovered work, Maar’s face is fragmented, but painted in bright colors without perspective. Maar appears anguished and on the point of weeping. At the time the work was created, Maar had learned Picasso, who was 61, was intending on leaving her for 21-year-old artist Françoise Gilot. 

The portrait was only displayed a few times at the time of its completion outside Picasso’s Paris atelier in the Rue des Grands Augustins. When Paris was liberated in August 1944, the painting remained in a private collection after being purchased. 

The painting’s existence was known from a black and white photograph taken after it was sold and featured in an art catalogue. The seller inherited the painting from a grandparent who was an unnamed French collector. 

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When the Nazis occupied Paris during World War II, Picasso’s work was considered to be “degenerate.” This led to multiple raids on his atelier and threats of banning exhibitions of his paintings. 

Maar died in Paris in 1997 at 89, and is known for being Picasso’s muse in addition to his subject and lover. Independently, she was a surrealist photographer whose style had a major influence on Picasso’s work throughout their relationship. 

The auction house Lucien Paris has estimated the oil painting to be worth £6.9m (around $9.3 million), but they’re expecting it to sell for more. The house kept the painting’s existence a secret before they revealed it to the press this week. 

Auctioneer Christophe Lucien stated that this is a “significant discovery,” describing the work as a masterpiece and rare example of how Picasso’s work acted as a light during the darkest of days throughout the occupation, the Guardian reported. 

“It is not only a milestone in the history of art but also in the private life of Picasso,” Lucien said.

“It is a refreshing portrait of Dora Maar; exceptional and full of emotion. Discovering it is a big moment in our lives as experts.”

The painting will be sold by Lucien Paris on October 24th and will be on display for three days before the sale.

Picasso Family Clarifies No NFT Is Set To Be Sold In Auction

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It turns out Pablo Picasso won’t be making a jump into the digital age. After Picasso’s granddaughter, Marina Picasso, and her son, Florian Picasso, announced that they would be selling 1,010 NFTs — or non-fungible tokens — of his never-before-seen ceramic work, lawyers for the family clarified the heirs hadn’t authorized the launch of any such asset.

The two previously sat down for an interview to offer a glimpse of the artwork a week before its planned launch. The brief look showed the underside of a grey ceramic bowl, splattered with green and yellow markings with “58” written on the base.

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The 71-year-old Marina received one-fifth of Picasso’s art and La Californie villa following his passing. One of eight grandchildren the artist had, Marina said that the 58 dates back to October 1958, when she was a child. She shared some thoughts on the piece, and what it represents to her.

“It’s a work that represents a face, and it’s very expressive. It’s joyful, happy. It represents life. It’s one of those objects that have been part of our life, our intimate lives — my life with my children.”

“We’re trying to build a bridge between the NFT world and the fine art world,” Florian explained to the Associated Press, noting they chose the specific piece because it was a “fun one” to start with.

Despite the family’s enthusiasm, there was clear confusion right away. Florian’s manager, Cyril Noterman, told the AP that the auction would be held at Sotheby’s, but a spokesperson for the fine arts company clarified no sale would be taking place.

Noterman — who stated they should have been more clear from the start — said that the more than 1,000 NFTs going up for sale Friday were linked to Florian’s artwork, not Picasso’s. Florian had previously spoken about how the planned NFTs would have honored his grandfather and fit within his legacy, and never seemed to imply they were his own doing.

Jean-Jacques Neuer, the Picasso administration’s lawyer, stated that any NFT of Florian’s work was his own creation, “independent of any claim vis-a-vis Pablo Picasso and his works.” Neuer added any NFT associated with Picasso would be a counterfeit and violate “artistic monopoly.”

The Picasso administration manages the holdings of Picasso’s three children — Maya Widmaier Picasso, Claude Ruiz Picasso, and Paloma Ruiz Picasso — and two grandchildren, Marina and Bernard Ruiz Picasso. Neuer said that the only person who could authorize an NFT is Claude, who doesn’t share the same feelings on the digital marketplace as Marina and Florian do.

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Picasso’s family would have attempted to ride the fad that all but has a stranglehold on the crypto community. Artists have netted quite the bounties with their work – on Dec. 2 last year, Pak’s “The Merge” became the highest-selling NFT to date, selling to a combined 30,000 collectors for $91.8 million.

Meanwhile, Mike Winkelmann — known professionally as “Beeple” — has seen several of his pieces go for multi millions of dollars, like “Everydays: the First 500 Days” ($69.3 million), “HUMAN ONE” ($28.9 million), and “Crossroad” ($6.6 million).

It wouldn’t have been the first time an NFT reminisced back to the past, either. Mintable, a marketplace, auctioned off a 20th-century avant-garde piece, “Abstract Composition,” by Russian-French painter and sculptor Wladimir Baranoff-Rossine in March.

Baranoff-Rossine’s piece, autographed and still in its original frame, was sent to the buyer along with a NFT authentication certificate. Nine digital NFTs based on his work were also sold.

Any authentic Picasso NFT would have surely brought in a sizeable compensation. Last year, eleven of Picasso’s pieces totaled nearly $110 million at a Sotheby’s auction. “Woman in a Red-Orange Beret” — which features Picasso’s lover, Marie-Thérèse Walter — went for $40.5 million, while self-portrait “Homme et Enfant” was snatched for $24.4 million.