Lost in Time

For over 70 years this small Paris apartment sat, its front door locked hiding the treasures within. The apartment belonged to a women named Marthe de Florian who was once a french actress. However at the outbreak of World War II she was forced to flee her apartment to southern France with the inevitable Nazi occupation of France. However after the end of World War II Madame Florian did not return to her apartment but instead remained in southern France and it wasn't until her death in 2010 that her heirs hired a professional team to evaluate the contents of her apartment, one in which she hadn't visited in 70 years yet had paid the rent for until her death. 

The apartment sits as it was left, a time capsule of pre War World II France. The glamour of a young and popular French actress in all its splendor. What amazed the team evaluating the apartment was however a painting and group of love letters on one of the tables, these love letters were written by a famous French painter named Giovanni Boldini who was once in love with Marthe de Florian. The painting on the table was of Marthe de Florian herself by Giovanni Boldini. This painting would later sell for over $3 million. 

The reasons why she never returned to her apartment isn't clear, but it offers a unique look at life in Paris at the turn of the war and an almost unbelievable story of a lost painting and unknown muse. Hidden and forgotten this painting sat, not even known to the art community to have ever existed. The world is full of forgotten treasures just waiting to resurface.