VIENNA: Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Miss Lieser, a painting of a young woman left unfinished when the Austrian artist died, sold at auction on Wednesday for 30 million euros ($32m) despite open questions about its subject and previous ownership.

The painting was commissioned by brothers Adolf and Justus Lieser, who were industrialists in the Austro-Hungarian empire. They had built their wealth on jute and hemp, making twine and rope.

The work was long thought to have been lost when in fact it was hanging in a private villa near Vienna for decades, according to auction house Im Kinsky, which put it on display in January before putting it under the hammer. Im Kinsky had estimated its value at 30m to 50m euros.

It shows its likely teenage subject in a turquoise dress draped in a flowing floral gown against a red background, her alabaster skin and piercing, pale brown eyes contrasting with her dark, curly hair.

Despite depicting her so clearly, it remains unclear who Fraeulein Lieser actually was. Henriette Amalie Lieser-Landau, nicknamed Lilly, was married to Justus, one of the two industrialist brothers, until their divorce in 1905 and became a well-known patron of the arts.

It is possible she commissioned the painting of one of her daughters, or Adolf Lieser could have done so with his daughter Margarethe as the subject.

“According to the latest provenance research, Klimt’s model was possibly not Margarethe Constance Lieser, Lilly Lieser’s niece, but one of her two daughters (with Justus), either Helene, the older one, born in 1898, or her sister Annie, who was three years younger,” the auction house said on its website.

Published in Dawn, April 25th, 2024