Klimt painting sets European record with $94 million price tag at Sotheby's auction in London

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

Published 12:25 PM CDT, June 27, 2023

LONDON (AP) — A late-life masterpiece by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt sold Tuesday for 74 million pounds ($94.35 million), making it the most expensive painting ever auctioned in Europe.

“Dame mit Fächer” — Lady with a Fan — sold to a buyer in the room at Sotheby’s in London. The sale price exceeded the presale estimate of 65 million pounds, or $80 million.

Previously, the most expensive painting auctioned in Europe was Claude Monet’s “Le basin aux nymphéas,” which fetched $80.4 million at a Christie’s sale in 2008.

The piece sold Tuesday was the last portrait Klimt completed before his death in 1918. The painting shows an unidentified woman against a resplendent, China-influenced backdrop of dragons and lotus blossoms.




Read more: https://apnews.com/article/klimt-painting-sothebys-auction-record-f7b88db1c1769d45b320c60a2b67be9d

[BlueSky3]

1. Very beautiful --

sad that Klimt didn’t have some of that money in his lifetime.

[bucolic_frolic]

2. I need to start painting

my descendants may thank me someday

[lapucelle]

3. It apparently went to an Asian buyer.

To some fanfare but little surprise, the last portrait ever painted by Gustav Klimt has sold for a record auction price in Europe, fetching £85.3m (with fees) at Sotheby's Modern and contemporary art evening sale in London this evening (27 June).

Dame mit Fächer (Lady with a Fan) (1917), executed a year before Klimt died in 1918, made headlines when its consignment was announced earlier this month: its estimate, "in excess of £65m", was the highest of any work offered at auction in the UK and in Europe. Guaranteed by both an irrevocable bid and a third-party guarantee, it was sure to sell. And so it did, hammering at £74m to the well-known adviser Patti Wong—formerly chairperson of Sotheby's Asia—bidding live in the New Bond Street salesroom on behalf of a Hong Kong-based client.

Providing some welcome punctuation to a thus-far largely flat auction that has seen thin bidding and many works passed or sold below estimate, the Klimt received initial attention from two bidders in the room and two more on the phones. The four-step quickly turned into a two-way tussle between the buyer and the underbidder, liaising on the phone with Sotheby's Asia deputy chairman Jen Hua. After a heated ten minutes steered by auctioneer Helena Newman, Sotheby’s chairman for Europe and worldwide head of Impressionist and Modern art, the underbidder dropped out of the race at £73.5m.

https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/06/27/klimt-portrait-sothebys-most-expensive-work-auction-europe

[Chainfire]

4. I would be happy with a $19.95 print of the paining.

It must be damn nice to have that kind of money to spend on artwork. (or trophies as the case may be)

[Diamond_Dog]

5. It's gorgeous.

[CTyankee]

6. Great. Now please donate it to a museum.

Maybe it could go to the Neue Gallery in NYC, where Adele is.

[NewDayOranges]

7. I don't know much about Klimt but I love his work...

[nocoincidences]

8. I love his work,

I have his calendar hanging right in front of me, but....

I'm not crazy about this particular painting.

[Cheezoholic]

9. Wash that money with Tide Painting Pods!

Get that dirty money squeaky clean while they brag about you in the painting scene!

[LudwigPastorius]

10. !

[flying rabbit]

11. ...

[Ziggysmom]

12. Ha! My fav scene from Back to School. Sometimes when I'm feeling low, a silly Rodney

Dangerfield move lifts my spirits. He was awesome

[Martin68]

13. I think the painting is more influenced by Japanese art than Chinese art.

Browsing through various descriptions of the painting online, some attribute it to Chinese influence while others note a Japanese influence. The phoenix and lotus are themes in both Chinese and Japanese art, but I believe this painting owes more to Japanese bijin-ga, which are woodblocks and paintings portraying beautiful courtesans.