Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

Klimt Heirs Resolve Provenance of Portrait in Sotheby’s Sale

June 2, 2015 by Marion Maneker

The New York Times has the news of a Klimt portrait that will be part of Sotheby’s late June sale:

The work, “Portrait of Gertrud Loew,” painted in 1902, has an estimated sale price of 12 million to 18 million pounds (about $18 million to $28 million), and is for sale as a result of a settlement between the Felsovanyi family, the heirs of the painting’s subject, and the Klimt Foundation. The painting depicts the 19-year-old daughter of a well-known Viennese physician, Dr. Anton Loew, who had treated Klimt (along with the composer Gustav Mahler and the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein) in his private sanatorium. The painting remained in the family until Gertrud Loew, widowed after marrying a Hungarian industrialist, Elemer Baruch von Felsovanyi, left Vienna for the United States in 1939, fleeing Nazi persecution.

The painting passed into the hands of Gustav Ucicky, a film director and one of Klimt’s sons, who acquired a number of his father’s works. After his death in 1961, the collection was left to his wife, Ursula, who established the Klimt Foundation in 2013.

“A condition of Mrs. Ucicky’s gift to the foundation was that their provenance would be resolved,” Lucian Simmons, the worldwide head of restitution for Sotheby’s, said in a telephone interview. “There was a broad effort on her part to find a resolution.” Mr. Simmons added that an additional five drawings by Klimt that the foundation owns are being transferred back to the Felsovanyi family as part of the agreement between the two parties. The proceeds of the auction will be shared by the foundation and the family, although Mr. Simmons said he was not party to the details of the agreement.

Source: Klimt’s ‘Portrait of Gertrud Loew’ to Be Auctioned – NYTimes.com

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Voices of the Old Masters SalesVoices of the Old Masters Sales
  • Revving Up for ArtRio 2014Revving Up for ArtRio 2014
  • Pigozzi Recalls How He Came to Own Seydou Keita’s WorkPigozzi Recalls How He Came to Own Seydou Keita’s Work
  • Christie's Day Sale (Highlights)Christie's Day Sale (Highlights)
  • Auctionata Starts to Get Real Traction in 2014, Claims 130,000 CustomersAuctionata Starts to Get Real Traction in 2014, Claims 130,000 Customers
  • The Freeport Scandal That Isn’t … a ScandalThe Freeport Scandal That Isn’t … a Scandal

Filed Under: General

About Marion Maneker

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

Top Posts

  • After Pandemic’s Rapid Change, Sotheby’s Has 8 Predictions for 2021
  • For 2020, Phillips Brought in Total of $760.4 million, Down 16 Percent from 2019; Asia Sales Up 24 Percent
  • Keith Haring’s 1989 Retrospect Comes to Sotheby’s London Prints Sale
  • A Season of Resilience: Fall 2020 Hong Kong Auction Analysis
  • Tony Podesta's Secret Art Buying
  • Soulages First Owned by Senegalese Poet-Politician Léopold Sédar Senghor Sells in France
  • A Season of Improvisation: Fall 2020 New York Modern and Contemporary Art Auction Analysis
  • Four of Picasso's Women Valued at $28m Come to Christie's from Rose-Walters Collection
  • Norman Rockwell's Not Gay. But Is He a Great Artist?
  • Christie's Announces $70m Picasso Self Portrait
  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor