Klimt painting “Portrait of Fräulein Lieser” sold at auction for 30 million

It is one of the last great portraits by Gustav Klimt – the “Portrait of Fräulein Lieser”. The painting has now been auctioned in Vienna – without a bidding war. The whole thing lasted just two and a half minutes.

After two and a half minutes it was over: the “Portrait of Fräulein Lieser” changed hands to an unknown owner for 30 million euros. It is one of the last major portraits that Gustav Klimt worked on before his early death in 1918.

30 million euros, which is at the lower end of expectations – 30 to 50 million were called for. But none of those who joined the Kinsky auction house in Vienna around the world wanted to drive up the price any further. Although there is an export permit from the Austrian Federal Monuments Office because, according to the auction house, the current heirs have clarified all legal questions regarding ownership.

Lost for almost 100 years

The painting was lost for almost 100 years. To this day, it has not been possible to fully document who had it hanging on the wall in the meantime. Above all, the years 1925 to 1960 are obscure. The question remains who owned it during the Nazi era.

The picture previously hung at Henriette “Lilly” Lieser. A prominent and wealthy art patron during the time of Gustav Klimt, who comes from a ramified Jewish family of manufacturers. She was later dispossessed by the Nazis, later deported to Riga and murdered – presumably in Auschwitz.