One of the last portraits by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) was auctioned on Tuesday for £85.3 million (98.7 million euros), setting a record for a work of art auctioned in Europe.
Sold to a collector in Hong Kong for more than an estimated 65 million pounds (75.2 million euros), the painting “Lady with Fan” surpassed the previous record of the sculpture “Walking Man I”, by Alberto Giacometti, also sold at Sotheby’s in 2010.
“After a 10-minute bidding war between four customers on the phone and those in the room, the painting set a new record for a work of art in Europe and also for Gustav Klimt. The result is also the second-highest value ever paid for a portrait at auction,” said Sotheby’s.
The painting is considered to be the last portrait Klimt made before his death.
#AuctionUpdate Gustav Klimt’s last great masterpiece “Dame mit Fächer” (1917-1918) rises to $108.4 million / £85.3 million at #SothebysLondonsetting a new auction record for the most valuable painting ever sold at auction in Europe. #SothebysModern pic.twitter.com/0v4DGxdTf4
– Sotheby’s (@Sotheby’s) June 27, 2023
The painting, which depicts a woman of unknown identity, brings together all the technical values and creative exuberance that define the painter’s great works, the international auction house stressed.
By this time, Klimt had begun to work with greater expressiveness, using more cheerful patterns, colors and shapes – such as flowers and dragons – in a style influenced by contemporary artists such as Van Gogh, Matisse and Gauguin.
Source: DN
