Portrait of Fräulein Lieser by Gustav Klimt
A long-lost painting by Gustav Klimt that sold in Vienna last year for $32 million is back in the news after the restitution settlement between the winning bidder, the seller, and the subject’s descendants fell through.
In 2024, one of the top moments in art world news was the sale of Klimt’s Portrait of Fräulein Lieser at the im Kinsky auction house in Vienna. The portrait was presumed lost for close to a century, being one of the last works Klimt began before his death in 1918. The subject is unknown, but the auction house concluded that it is most likely Margarethe Lieser, the daughter of a wealthy Jewish family in Vienna. Even though the family was persecuted at the hands of the Nazis, the auction house, itself headed by a former art law expert, said that there was no evidence to suggest the painting itself had been stolen or looted during the Second World War. Initially, the sellers agreed to jointly consign the painting with the Lieser family’s descendants, which seemed rather reasonable should new evidence later suggest that the work’s provenance was, in fact, tainted. The Klimt ended up selling for €30 million, making it the sixth most expensive painting sold at auction in 2024 and the most expensive sold in Austria. Some commentators have noted that the auction house specialists initially predicted that the painting could sell for as much as €50 million. Still, many potential buyers were likely scared away because of the gaps in the provenance.
After further investigations, a theory emerged to fill in some of the gaps in the painting’s history. It alleges that the portrait’s subject is not Margarethe Lieser, but her cousin Helene. Furthermore, Helene’s mother, Henriette, likely sold the Klimt out of desperation after the Nazis froze or confiscated many of her assets. It found its way into the hands of Adolf Hagenauer, whose father-in-law worked as a butler in the Lieser household. Hagenauer gave the painting to his daughter, whose children consigned the work to im Kinsky following her death in 2022. There are still many unanswered questions about how much the Hagenauer family knew about the history of the painting and the circumstances around how the work came to be in their possession.
Shortly after the sale concluded, several alleged descendants came forward to contest the agreement with the initial group of heirs. The family descendants who initially consigned the work to im Kinsky did so on behalf of themselves as well as all potential heirs, opening the door for these claimants. Several claimants came forth, all of whom became parties to the indemnification agreement. However, after months of negotiations, one of the family’s descendants continued to contest the conditions of the contract. After over a year of talks, the Hong Kong-based buyer eventually got fed up and backed out, causing the deal to fall apart in March 2025. Der Standard estimates that the painting eventually failing to sell cost im Kinsky around €1.5 million. Im Kinsky is not as large of an organization as Christie’s or Sotheby’s. In 2022, they reported €27 million in revenue against the billions that major auction houses often bring in. €1.5 million will surely be a significant blow to them.