Flat locked for 70 years contains €2.1 million painting

A woman left her Paris apartment before World War II and never returned. After her recent death, appraisers opened the doors of the flat for the first time in more than 70 years. Among many other antiques, they found a 19th century portrait of her grandmother painted by Giovanni Boldini, valued at €2.1 million. From The Telegraph:

 Telegraph Multimedia Archive 01731 Antiques 1731890C

"There was a smell of old dust," said Olivier Choppin-Janvry, who made the discovery. Walking under high wooden ceilings, past an old wood stove and stone sink in the kitchen, he spotted a stuffed ostrich and a Mickey Mouse toy dating from before the war, as well as an exquisite dressing table.

But he said his heart missed a beat when he caught sight of a stunning tableau of a woman in a pink muslin evening dress.
The painting was by Boldini and the subject a beautiful Frenchwoman who turned out to be the artist's former muse and whose granddaughter it was who had left the flat uninhabited for more than half a century.

The muse was Marthe de Florian, an actress with a long list of ardent admirers, whose fervent love letters she kept wrapped neatly in ribbon and were still on the premises. Among the admirers was the 72nd prime minister of France, George Clemenceau, but also Boldini.

"Parisian flat containing €2.1 million painting lay untouched for 70 years" (Thanks, Lisa Mumbach!)