A previously¹ unknown portrait by Pablo Picasso of one of his lovers was revealed on Thursday after being put up for sale at auction² in Paris with a reserve price of €8 million euros ($9.5 million).

Entitled "Bust³ of a woman with a flowery hat", it depicts⁴ Dora Maar, a French photographer, painter and poet who was Picasso's best-known muse⁵.

Painted with oil, the colourful work measuring 80 x 60 centimetres (31 x 24 inches) "is valued at around eight million euros, a reserve price that could soar," according to auctioneer Christophe Lucien at Parisian auction house Drouot.

It was painted by Picasso on July 11, 1943, and acquired in August 1944 by a French collector who is the grandfather of the current owners.

Agnès Sevestre-Barbé, a Picasso specialist present during the unveiling of the work, said it was "unknown to the public and never exhibited, except in the Spanish master's studio in Paris".

She added that it was "quite exceptional and marks a milestone⁶ in the history of art and in that of Picasso."

It shows Maar with a melancholy⁷ but harmonious⁸ face, wearing a colorful flowery hat, at a moment when the macho Spanish painter was abandoning her for a younger artist, Françoise Gilot.

巴黎拍卖行近日公开一幅此前不为人知的毕加索画作，这幅为其情人创作的肖像画起拍价达800万欧元（约合950万美元）。这幅题为《戴花帽的女人半身像》的画作描绘了法国摄影师、画家兼诗人朵拉·玛尔的形象，她是毕加索最著名的灵感缪斯。

巴黎德鲁奥拍卖行的拍卖师克里斯托夫·吕西安表示，这幅80×60厘米的彩色油画"估价约800万欧元，保留价可能大幅飙升"。该作品由毕加索创作于1943年7月11日，1944年8月被现任藏家的祖父——一位法国收藏家购得。

出席画作揭幕仪式的毕加索研究专家阿涅斯·塞维斯特-巴贝表示，这幅作品"一直未被公众所知，除曾在毕加索巴黎画室展出外从未公开展示"。她补充说，这幅画"相当非凡，标志着艺术史和毕加索创作历程的重要里程碑"。

画作中的玛尔头戴绚丽花帽，面容忧郁却透着宁静之美。创作此画时，这位西班牙画坛巨匠正为更年轻的艺术家弗朗索瓦丝·吉洛而离开她。