By Farah Nayeri Pablo Picasso stands, cigarette in hand, gazing intently at the viewer. A white pocket square pokes out of his suit jacket; strands of hair reach up to the top of the canvas.

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. At Sotheby’s modern and contemporary evening auction in London earlier this month, a Picasso painting ...