The portrait "Lady with a Fan" by Gustav Klimt went down in history for being auctioned off for 86 million euro from the auction house Sotheby's in London.
The last work of the Austrian symbolist painter thus becomes, themost expensive work of art never sold in Europe, setting a new record.
The painting, which had been given an indicative price of around 75 million euros, was sold after 10 tense minutes of auction.
The painting “Dame mit Fächer”, begun by Klimt in 1917, was still on the easel in his studio when the artist died unexpectedly, aged 55, in February 1918 at the height of its artistic splendour.
The identity of the female figure remains unknown.
Secondo Helena Newman, global head of Sotheby's for Impressionist and Modern Art, this canvas represents something different and exceptional compared to the rest of the artist's production, the result of "a technical tour de force full of experimentations that push the limits, as well as a heartfelt ode to absolute beauty".
“The painting was created when Klimt was still in the prime of his artistic activity and combines all the technical skill and creative exuberance that characterize his most important works,” explains Helena Newman.
Who will be the mysterious Lady?
According to the prestigious auction house, Klimt's portraits rarely end up on the market. Sotheby's declared that the only one considered by critics to be of a similar level to the "Lady with a Fan" was “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II” of 1912, sold in 2006 for $87,9 million at Christie's in New York.
Until now the record was held by the “Walking Man I” by Alberto Giacometti, a sculpture sold by Sotheby's in an auction in February 2010 for 76 million euros.
While "The Empire of the Lights” by Rene Magritte has recently reached an auction quota of 59,4 million pounds at the same house.
Although record numbers, these works remain far from the absolute world record recorded in America for the "Savior of the world” attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, sold at Christie's in New York, in November 2017, for about 450 million dollars.
