Gustav Klimt’s Mysterious Nude Portrait Breaks Record with $108.4 Million Sale
‘Lady with a Fan’ was the artist’s last portrait. It was found sitting on the easel of his studio after he died.
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A Gustav Klimt portrait of a mysterious nude woman clutching a hand fan and standing against a colourful wall of dragons and flowers sold Tuesday for $108.4 million at Sotheby’s London, setting a record for any artwork auctioned in Europe.
The 1917-1918 “Lady with a Fan” surpassed both of Europe’s previous titleholders, including the $104 million paid by billionaire Lily Safra in 2010 for Alberto Giacometti’s spindly bronze sculpture, “Walking Man I,” and the $80.4 million painting record previously set in 2008 by Claude Monet’s 1919 canvas, “Water Lily Pond.”
“Lady with a Fan” also topped the $104.6 million paid for the artist’s 1903 landscape, “Birch Forest,” which was bought by an anonymous buyer last year.
The identity of the woman holding the fan remains a mystery, but she likely stood out because the canvas is considered the artist’s final portrait. The work was found sitting on the easel of his studio when he died at age 55 in 1918.
Sotheby’s only expected “Lady with a Fan” to sell for around $80 million, but four bidders pushed it far higher. Adviser Patti Wong won the work following a 10-minute bidding war for one of her clients in Hong Kong, she confirmed after the sale.
The painting fell shy of breaking the artist’s overall record, which cosmetics executive Ronald Lauder set in 2006 when he paid $135 million for Klimt’s restituted “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I,” a shimmering portrait of a woman surrounded by golden-flecked patterns. That restituted painting, which became the subject of a 2015 film, “Woman in Gold,” is now displayed at New York’s Neue Galerie.
The Austrian symbolist was best known for his sensual portraits of lanky, glamorous women whose postures or modern attire marked a departure from the stiffer, salon-style portraits of women that preceded him. His 1907-08 masterpiece, “The Kiss,” depicts an embracing couple dressed in a riot of patterned fabric. It hangs in Vienna’s Belvedere museum.
Few of his portraits still circulate in today’s marketplace, which likely added to the appeal of “Lady with a Fan.”
The “lady” depicted in the work remains anonymous. Curators surmise she was a model he hired for the job, rather than an Austrian socialite like Bloch-Bauer, because the woman depicted agreed to pose in the nude, her figure obscured by an off-shoulder kimono and hand fan.
It’s also unclear if the swirl of lotus flowers and birds behind her represent a tapestry, wallpaper or Klimt’s own imagined pattern; the artist was known to admire Japanese motifs.
The sale may go a long way toward underscoring the resilience of the trophy art market despite the fresh shakiness of the art market overall. Klimt remains one of a handful of artists who tend to command top prices in good markets and bad, dealers said. Last month, Klimt’s watery scene, “Insel im Attersee,” sold for $53.2 million to a Japanese collector.
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Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual
Employment grew for the 16th consecutive month as companies expanded.
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According to a recent PMI report, Qatar experienced its fastest non-energy sector growth in almost two years in June, driven by surges in both existing and new business activities.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) headline figure for Qatar reached 55.9 in June, up from 53.6 in May, with anything above 50.0 indicating growth in business activity. Employment also grew for the 16th month in a row, and the country’s 12-month outlook remained robust.
The inflationary pressures were muted, with input prices rising only slightly since May, while prices charged for goods and services fell, according to the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) report.
This headline figure marked the strongest improvement in business conditions in the non-energy private sector since July 2022 and was above the long-term trend.
The report noted that new incoming work expanded at the fastest rate in 13 months, with significant growth in manufacturing and construction and sharp growth in other sectors. Despite the rising demand for goods and services, companies managed to further reduce the volume of outstanding work in June.
Companies attributed positive forecasts to new branch openings, acquiring new customers, and marketing campaigns. Prices for goods and services fell for the sixth time in the past eight months as firms offered discounts to boost competitiveness and attract new customers.
Qatari financial services companies also recorded further strengthening in growth, with the Financial Services Business Activity and New Business Indexes reaching 13- and nine-month highs of 61.1 and 59.2, respectively. These levels were above the long-term trend since 2017.
Yousuf Mohamed Al-Jaida, QFC CEO, said the June PMI index was higher than in all pre-pandemic months except for October 2017, which was 56.3. “Growth has now accelerated five times in the first half of 2024 as the non-energy economy has rebounded from a moderation in the second half of 2023,” he said.
Chris Dixon, a partner who led the charge, says he has a ‘very long-term horizon’
Americans now think they need at least $1.25 million for retirement, a 20% increase from a year ago, according to a survey by Northwestern Mutual
