The rediscovered Picasso artwork going up for at least $10 million

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A resurfaced oil painting by Pablo Picasso is set for auction in Paris later this year, having remained out of the public view for decades.

Wartime portrait of oft-painted partner

Entitled “Buste de femme au chapeau à fleurs” (“Bust of a Woman in a Flowery Hat”), the painting is a portrait of Picasso’s then-partner, the French photographer and painter Dora Maar, who posed for several of the Spanish artist’s works.

Picasso, who had settled in Paris in the early 20th century, painted the canvas in the French capital in July 1943, during the Nazi occupation of France.

His creation of the work also came at a time when his stormy, nine-year romantic relationship with Maar was coming to an end.

Multi-million price tag anticipated

“Bust of a Woman in a Flowery Hat” is to go under the hammer at the Lucien Paris auction house in October, with Reuters reporting that the potrait is expected to fetch “at least $9.45 million”.

“Major historical and artistic importance”

In an essay published by Lucien Paris ahead of the painting’s sale, the art expert Agnès Sevestre-Barbé describes “Bust of a Woman in a Flowery Hat” as “a canvas of major historical and artistic importance, all the more as it remained unseen by the public for over eighty years”.

Sevestre-Barbé continues: “Acquired in August 1944 by a great collector, it remained in his family. To our knowledge, it has never been exhibited nor appeared at auction.”

The rediscovered Picasso artwork going up for at least $10 million — Employees adjust the painting “Bust of a Woman with a Flowered Hat (Dora Maar), 1943” (Buste de femme au chapeau a fleurs (Dora Maar), 1943) by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) on display before its auction at Drouot auction house in Paris, France, September 16, 2025. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier THIS PHOTO CAN ONLY BE USED IN THE CONTEXT OF THE AUCTION AND FOR EDITORIAL USE, WITH THE COPYRIGHT “Succession Picasso 2025” . NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES . NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS OR ANY OTHER COMMERCIAL PURPOSEBenoit Tessier

A “sad” portrait

Speaking to CNN, the art historian Arthur Brand said the painting “gives a more sad impression” than other Picasso portraits of Maar.

Brand explained that the work’s melancholic tenor may represent not only the breakdown in his relationship with Maar, but also Picasso’s wartime fears for the future.

As Sevestre-Barbé notes in her essay, the occupying Nazis had branded Picasso’s work “degenerate”.

At the time he painted “Bust of a Woman in a Flowery Hat”, Sevestre-Barbé says, the Spaniard was enduring “the regular visits of German agents who sought to intimidate him and destroyed some of his works deemed subversive”.

“Picasso probably was worried that he would never be able to sell or exhibit again,” Brand told CNN.