Gustav Klimt’s final masterstroke, an enchanting portrait steeped in mystery and allure, is set to send seismic waves through Europe’s art market at an auction in London’s esteemed Sotheby’s this month. Anticipation and intrigue are mounting in unison, as art connoisseurs eagerly await to witness this monumental event, which could rewrite the annals of European art auctions.
In an extravagant moment in the world of art auctions, a tantalizing piece by the renowned Austrian Symbolist, Gustav Klimt, titled Dame mit Facher (Lady with a Fan) is poised to be snapped up for an estimated GBP 65 million (USD 80 million) on June 27. The piece is not just another portrait, but rather a voluptuous, intoxicating portrayal of an anonymous femme. It was intriguingly left unfinished on the maestro’s easel upon his sudden demise in February 1918, at the young age of 55.
Perched atop her throne at Sotheby’s, Helena Newman, who helms the renowned auction house’s Europe division and its Impressionist and Modern Art sectors globally, hailed the masterpiece as an authentic product of Klimt’s prime. Newman stressed that “many of those works, certainly the portraits for which he is best known, were commissions. This, though, is something completely different — a technical tour de force, full of boundary-pushing experimentation, as well as a heartfelt ode to absolute beauty.”
With this auction, Europe’s art market could witness the dawn of a new record. The current pinnacle stands at GBP 65 million, courtesy of Alberto Giacometti’s sculptural marvel Walking Man I, which Sotheby’s auctioned off in February 2010. In comparison, Claude Monet’s Le bassin aux nympheas fetched GBP 40.9 million at Christie’s in London in June 2008. As recently as last March, Rene Magritte’s L’empire des lumières was purchased for GBP 59.4 million at Sotheby’s.
The chance to bid on a Klimt portrait is as rare as a blue moon. Sotheby’s recalled how one of the rare instances of a Klimt of similar caliber coming to auction was Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II (1912), which was snapped up for USD 87.9 million at Christie’s in New York in 2006. Intriguingly, two of Klimt’s portraits have reportedly changed hands in private sales, each amassing over USD 100 million. The aforementioned Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II, which represents the spouse of a Jewish sugar industrialist, was one of these masterpieces, sold for a staggering USD 150 million in 2017. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I was sold to the Neue Galerie in New York for USD 135 million in 2006.
Thus, the Klimtian landscape, scarce and elite, unfolds for another exciting episode on June 27, with expectations of a seismic shift in records and revelations of the anonymous muse behind Dame mit Facher.
Gustav Klimt’s works are mainly renowned for their intricate details, sumptuous use of gold, and richly symbolic, often erotic, themes. A central figure in the Vienna Secession movement, Klimt famously rejected the constraints of traditional academic painting and sought to break new ground with his highly distinctive style.
Klimt is perhaps best known for his Golden Phase where he incorporated gold leaf into his artwork, a technique inspired by the Byzantine mosaics he saw during a trip to Italy. The resulting works, including his most famous painting The Kiss, are lavishly decorated and radiate a captivating, otherworldly beauty. He was also celebrated for his portraiture, particularly his depictions of women. Moreover, Klimt was a master of symbolism. His works, like The Tree of Life, are laden with richly symbolic allusions to themes such as life, death, and regeneration.
With AFP.
