'Portrait of Fräulein Lieser' sells for 32 million dollars

In Vienna, the capital of Austria, the painting titled "Portrait of Fräulein Lieser" by Austrian modernist artist Gustav Klimt, which was thought to have been missing for nearly 100 years, was put up for auction at the Vienna-based im Kinsky Auction House.

The painting found a buyer for 32 million dollars after being valued between 32 and 53 million dollars. The identity of the buyer was not shared with the public.

It is stated that Klimt began working on the painting in 1917, one year before his death. It is believed that the painting was gifted to the Lieser family between 1918 and 1925.

The portrait is estimated to belong to one of the daughters of the family, who held high status in Viennese society at the time.

EXHIBITED ONLY ONCE

Im Kinsky stated that the painting was purchased by a legal predecessor of the consignor in the 1960s and passed to its current owner through three successive inheritances, noting that the painting was exhibited only once in 1926 and has not been displayed in a public space since that date.

The painting was put up for sale on behalf of its current owners in accordance with the Washington Principles, which were established to address ongoing identification and restitution issues regarding artworks seized during the Nazi era in Germany.

News Source: İHA