VIENNA –
A long-lost portrait of a young woman by Gustav Klimt was sold at an auction in Vienna on Wednesday for 30 million euros ($32 million).
The Austrian modernist artist began painting “Portrait of Fräulein Lieser” in 1917, a year before his death, and it was one of his last works. Bids start at 28 million euros and the sale price is at the low end of the expected range of 30-50 million euros. The buyer was not identified.
Auctioneer Im Kinsky said “a rare painting of such artistic significance and value has not been present on the art market in Central Europe for decades.”
Auctioneer Michael Kovacek announces the sale of the painting 'Portrait of Fräulein Lieser' by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt at an auction, in Vienna, Wednesday, April 24, 2024. (Christian Bruna/AP Photo)
The brightly colored painting was auctioned on behalf of the current owners, unnamed Austrian citizens, and the legal heirs of Adolf and Henriette Lieser, one of whom was supposedly commissioned the painting. It is not entirely clear which members of the Lieser family are models.
According to the auction house, Klimt left the painting, with small unfinished sections, in his studio when he died of a stroke in early 1918 and it was given to the family who commissioned it.
The Jewish family fled Austria after 1930 and lost most of their property.
It's unclear exactly what happened to the painting between 1925 and the 1960s, a period that included the Nazi dictatorship. Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938.
The auction house said there was no evidence that the painting had been confiscated at the time but there was also no evidence that it was not. It has belonged to the current owners through three successive inheritances.
In the face of uncertainty, the current owners and heirs of Liesers entered into an agreement to proceed with the sale under the Washington Principles, drafted in 1998 to assist in resolving issues related to the return of art confiscated by the Nazis.
