Klimt’s lost work discovered

It is no less than a find of the century: The “Portrait of Fräulein Lieser” by Gustav Klimt (1862–1918) from 1917 was previously only known to experts from a black and white photograph. Yesterday, Thursday, the Vienna auction house at Kinsky presented the late work of the world-famous Austrian artist, which was believed to be lost. The painting was hidden for almost 100 years.

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Estimated value up to 50 million euros

The 140 by 80 centimeter picture shows a young woman in a strict frontal pose against a red background. A cloak richly decorated with flowers lies over her shoulders. The identity of those pictured is unclear. Investigations suggest either the eighteen-year-old Margarethe Constance Lieser, daughter of the leading industrialist of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Adolf Lieser, or a daughter of his sister-in-law Henriette Amalie Lieser (Landau). The latter was murdered in the Holocaust. Between 1925 and the 1960s, the whereabouts of the portrait are also unclear. However, there is no evidence of expropriation during the National Socialist era, emphasizes the co-managing director of the auction house Ernst Ploil. “I don’t know when and where it was bought and resold,” but that “couldn’t be researched,” he says.

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The work is one of the most beautiful of Klimt’s late creative period, says his colleague Claudia Mörth-Gasser. Managing director Michael Kovacek puts the estimated value at 30 to 50 million euros. Ploil humorously explained how the auction house, which is relatively small in international comparison, came to this important order: “It’s easy to come across such Klimts. You just have to wait.” Someone simply called and said that he was about to receive an inheritance, which probably also included a valuable work of art. He, Ploil, should support him legally and then also with the exploitation. The painting will be auctioned off on April 24th but will be shown to the public for a few more weeks.