Gustav Klimt portrait found after nearly 100 years could fetch $54 million at auction

A painting by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt which was thought to be lost for nearly a century has been found and is now heading for an auction in Vienna. The portrait, one of Klimt’s last works, had disappeared from public view after a 1925 exhibition.

About the recently found portrait

Klimt’s Portrait of Fräulein Lieser was created in 1917 and according to the im Kinsky auction house, for many decades, the painting which it has described as a “sensation” was privately owned by an anonymous Austrian citizen.

Prior to 1925, the Portrait of Fräulein Lieser belonged to a Jewish family in Austria, but its fate is unclear as the family of the current owners have had the painting since the 1960s.

Austrian artist Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Fräulein Lieser(Photo credit: im Kinsky)

“A painting of such rarity, artistic significance and value has not been available on the art market in Central Europe for decades,” said im Kinsky in a statement.

The recently rediscovered painting is expected to fetch more than $54 million, said the Austria-based auction house.

The portrait depicts a young member of the Lieser family which belonged to the circle of wealthy, upper-class Viennese society. The family also included Adolf and Justus Lieser, leading industrialists in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

However, the identity of the younger member of the Lieser family depicted in the portrait has been unclear.

The oeuvre catalogues of Klimt’s paintings suggest that Adolf commissioned Klimt to paint a portrait of his 18-year-old daughter Margarethe Constance. However, there is some evidence that suggests he was commissioned by Lilly Lieser to immortalise one of her two daughters in paintings.

Auction in April

In a statement, im Kinsky said that the portrait will be put on auction on April 24, 2024, on behalf of the current owners along with the legal successors of Adolf and Henriette Lieser.

The auction will be based on a deal in accordance with the Washington Principles of 1998, an international agreement to return Nazi-looted art to the descendants of the people they were taken from.

However, before the painting is put up for auction, it will be presented in several other locations including Switzerland, Germany, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom, said the Austrian auction house.

(With inputs from agencies)