(London) A masterpiece by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt could become the most expensive painting ever sold in Europe when it goes to auction later this month.
Auction house Sotheby’s announced on Wednesday that The lady with the fan (Dame mit Fächer) will go on sale June 27 in London, with an estimated price of 65 million pounds (about 110 million CAN).
The last portrait made by Klimt before his death in 1918, the painting shows an unidentified woman against a resplendent background of dragons and lotus flowers, inspired by China.
Helena Newman, Head of Impressionist and Modern Art at Sotheby’s, said the portrait was “a technical tour de force, full of boundary-pushing experimentation, as well as a heartfelt ode to absolute beauty”.
Klimt was a key figure in artistic modernism in the early 20th century.e century. His work has achieved some of the highest prices of any artist. THE Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II by Klimt sold at auction in 2006 for 87.9 million US (117 million CAN), and its landscape Birch Forest sold at Sotheby’s last year for 104.6 million US (139 million CAN).
Two other of his portraits would have sold privately for more than 100 million US.
The most expensive works of art sold at auction in Europe, in dollars, are sculpture The Walking Man Iby Alberto Giacometti, sold for 104.3 million US (139 million CAN) at Sotheby’s in 2010 and the painting by Claude Monet Water Lily Pondwhich fetched US80.4 million (CAN107 million) at a sale at Christie’s in 2008.
The world auction record for a work of art goes to Salvator Mundiby Leonardo da Vinci, which sold for US$450.3 million (CAN599 million) in 2017 – even though some experts question whether the work was entirely made by the Renaissance master.