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

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 (around $37.19 million), 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 involved his muse, because he was about to leave her (Dora Maar) for (French painter) Francoise Gilot," auctioneer Christophe Lucien said.

"And through this portrait, we see a woman who holds back her tears. So it's lucky for an auctioneer to have a piece of art history before their own eyes."

Art expert Agnes Sevestre-Barbe said the heirs decided to offer the painting for sale as it could not be physically divided among them.