New Picasso portrait unveiled at Paris auction house

An "exceptional" painting by Pablo Picasso, a portrait of his partner Dora Maar, painted in 1943 and kept by the family of its first owner since 1944, will be unveiled on Thursday at the Hôtel Drouot in Paris, where it will be auctioned on 24 October.

Entitled "Bust of a woman with a flowery hat", it depicts Dora Maar, a French photographer, painter and poet who was Picasso's best-known muse. Painted with oil, the colourful work measuring 80 x 60 centimeters "is valued at around eight million euros, a reserve price that could soar," according to auctioneer at Parisian auction house Drouot.