Gustav Klimt’s “Portrait of Miss Lieser,” an unfinished painting of a young woman, fetched 30 million euros ($32 million) at auction on Wednesday, despite lingering questions about its subject and previous ownership.
Initially believed lost, the artwork had actually been hanging in a private villa near Vienna for decades, revealed Im Kinsky auction house, which displayed it in January before putting it up for sale. Im Kinsky had estimated its worth between 30 million to 50 million euros.
The painting portrays its likely teenage subject in a turquoise dress, adorned with a flowing floral gown against a backdrop of red. Her fair skin and striking pale brown eyes stand out against her dark, curly hair.
Despite the clarity of her depiction, the true identity of “Fraeulein Lieser” remains elusive. The Lieser brothers, Adolf and Justus, were affluent industrialists in the Austro-Hungarian empire, amassing their wealth in jute and hemp production for twine and rope.
Henriette Amalie Lieser-Landau, known as “Lilly,” was married to Justus until their divorce in 1905 and became a prominent arts patron. It’s speculated she may have commissioned the painting of one of her daughters, or alternatively, Adolf Lieser might have done so, with his daughter Margarethe as the subject.
“According to the latest provenance research, Klimt’s model was possibly not Margarethe Constance Lieser, Lilly Lieser’s niece, but one of her two daughters (with Justus), either Helene, the older one, born in 1898, or her sister Annie, who was three years younger,” stated the auction house on its website.
