Dame mit Fächer (Lady with Fan), the last portrait of Klimt, has the highest estimate ever put on a painting in Europe at over £65million when it is sold in London later this month. The artwork was standing on an easel in his studio when the Austrian painter died unexpectedly of a stroke and pneumonia in 1918 at the age of 55.
The portrait by Gustav Klimt was described as a “heartfelt ode to absolute beauty”. It was last sold for $11.6m in 1994 and will be offered at Sotheby’s in London on 27 June.
Klimt showed interest in Chinese and Japanese culture is also palpable—he had a large wardrobe of kimonos and Chinese robes, alongside a collection of Japanese woodblock prints. The motifs in the background and on the robe in Lady with a Fan, such as lotus blossoms, phoenixes, and dragons, draw heavily on Chinese design.
