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Gustav Klimt's Portrait Resurfaces After A Century Which Was Once Lost; KNOW More About This €30M Painting
Learn everything about Klimt's lost portrait which was recently sold for €30 million almost after a century. Controversy surrounds the subject's identity and Nazi-era history.
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Unfinished Klimt painting resurfaces, fetching €30m at auction in Vienna
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Debate ensues over the subject's identity highlighting the complexities of art restitution
In the busy city of Vienna, a piece of art history has recently come out from hiding and taken the world by storm once again. At an auction, a long-lost painting believed to be by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt was sold.
A tale of identity and legacy
Fraulein Lieser’s portrait broke records when it sold for €30m at an auction. The portrait was commissioned in 1917 by a prominent Jewish industrialist family but remained unfinished when Klimt died the following year. The identity of the subject is unknown, fuelling debate among art historians and enthusiasts.
Theories have abounded as to whom Klimt may have painted, with some suggesting Margarethe Constance Lieser (Adolf Lieser’s daughter) while others believe it could depict one of Justus Lieser’s daughters with his wife Henriette (Lilly), who played a key role in Vienna’s art scene; until she was deported to Auschwitz and died there during World War Two.
The journey of restitution
Questions have been raised about this masterpiece after its discovery during Nazi rule: what happened between then and now? Who owned it? How did they get hold? Inheriting through generations, this painting ended up being bought anonymously by an Austrian citizen. 
Washington Principles, which aims to return Nazi-Confiscated Art to their rightful owners, conducted the sale of the painting. However, Erika Jakubovits, representing the Austrian Jewish Community, said that more should be done than just following international agreements blindly.
She insists upon precise fairness whilst demanding that all investigations into such matters must be conducted independently; so as not biased against any party involved.
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