AFP’Portrait of Fraeulein Lieser’ by Gustav Klimt
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 09:16
A long-lost work of art by painter Gustav Klimt has surfaced in the Austrian capital Vienna. For almost 100 years it was not clear where the painting had gone. It now appears that it has been hanging in a living room of a villa near Vienna since the mid-1960s.
The last time the artwork was seen in public was in 1925. Experts only knew the painting from photographs. The owners recently contacted an auction house to have it auctioned.
It Portrait of Miss Lieser shows a young woman against a red background. The woman may be a daughter of the wealthy Jewish industrialist Adolf Lieser, but this has never been established. The artwork was commissioned by the Lieser family from Vienna.
Klimt may have started painting the portrait in May 1917, writes the Austrian broadcaster ORF. After Klimt’s death in 1918, it went to the clients.
Bought and resold
The work was exhibited in 1925. The photos known to experts were probably taken there. The family member who owned the painting was deported and murdered during the Second World War. What happened to the painting afterwards is unclear.
It may have been stolen by Nazis, but it may also have been sold by the family. In any case, the work was never reclaimed by heirs after the war.
According to the Austrian broadcaster, the portrait appeared on an art market in the 1960s, but it was unknown when and where it was bought and resold. The current owners inherited it from distant relatives about two years ago.
The painting measuring 140 by 80 centimeters will be auctioned on April 24 on behalf of the owners and legal successors of the Lieser family. This is done on the basis of the Washington Principles, an international agreement to return art looted by Nazis to the descendants of the people from whom it was taken.
On tour
Before it is auctioned, the painting will go on tour. It is exhibited in Germany, Switzerland, Great Britain and Hong Kong, among others.
The estimated value of the painting is 30 to 50 million euros. In June, Klimts Lady with a fan sold at an auction in London for more than 86 million euros. This made it the most expensive work of art ever at a European auction.
2024-01-26 08:16:51
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