Believed to be lost for almost 100 years, the painting by the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt “Portrait of Fraulein Lieser” (Bildnis Fräulein Lieser) was sold at the Im Kinski auction in Vienna for 30 million euros. Part of the money will go to the descendants of the Jewish family that commissioned this portrait in 1917.
The last time the painting was exhibited was in 1925, and since then no one has seen it. But in January 2024, the painting was unexpectedly found and put up for auction. However, the mystery of the picture remains. It is still not clear how the painting disappeared, what happened to it during the Holocaust, and under what circumstances it was found.
However, there is another mystery: it is still not completely clear who exactly is depicted in the picture. According to one version, this is Margareta Lieser, the daughter of a major industrialist Adolf Lieser. However, there is another version, according to which the great artist Gustav Klimt captured one of the daughters of Adolf Lieser’s brother, Justus. This guess is confirmed by the fact that Henrietta, the wife of Justus (she died in Auschwitz), was familiar with Klimt and was considered a patron of the arts.
Although both of Justus and Henrietta’s daughters, Helena and Annie, survived the Holocaust, they left no evidence about the painting. However, their heirs became contenders for a share of the sale of the painting.
Art historians believe that the picture depicting Fräulein Lieser was not finished. It came to the customers in 1918 after the artist’s death, although he did not give it to them personally. Therefore, it is very difficult to trace who exactly has ownership of this work.
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2024-05-02 07:12:22