Portrait of Pablo’s mistress fetches €75m

A RARE portrait of one of Picasso’s mistresses has become the second most expensive artwork sold at auction in the world, after going under the hammer for $95.2 million (€75m) in New York.

Dora Maar With Cat, painted in 1941 at the height of the couple’s tempestuous relationship, almost doubled its pre-sale estimate of $50m (€39.4m) at Sotheby’s.

And it was not far from beating the world record for an artwork at auction set by another Picasso in 2004, when his Boy with a Pipe fetched $104.2m (€82m).