Picasso portrait fetches $1.7M at London auction

A portrait of photographer Dora Maar by Spanish painter Pablo Picasso was sold at an auction in London for £1.3 million (approximately $1.7 million).

According to Report, the Sotheby's auction house announced the sale.

The estimated value of the work had been between £600,000 and £800,000.

Picasso painted Maar's portrait in November 1936, shortly after their first meeting and the beginning of their relationship. The artist later gifted the painting to his lover, who kept it until her death in 1997.

The work later became part of the collection of British businessman and investor Joe Lewis.