Picasso’s Dora Maar au chat sold for more than $95 million

The auction market has been crazy last Wednesday at Sotheby’s New York, when a stunning, painterly, but arguably not masterful Picasso entitled “Dora Maar au chat” (1941) fetched an even more stunning $95.2 million, turning into the second most expensive painting ever sold at auction. The current record, as you surely know, is held by another Picasso, Garçon a la pipe , which fetched an astonishing $104 million two years ago

Dora Maar (1907-1997) met Picasso in 1930, and their sentimental relation lasted until 1946. A native from Paris , raised in Argentina and fluent in Spanish, Maar was one of Picasso’s favourite models. This painting, measuring 130 x 97 cm , was recently rediscovered and authenticated by Picasso’s daughter, Maya Widmaier Picasso .

In the same auction, a painting by Henri Matisse, entitled “Nu couché vu de dos” (1927), fetched $18.4 million, breaking the previous auction record for the artist.