Watch live as the last portrait Gustav Klimt painted, Dame Mit Facher (Lady With A Fan), goes up for auction at Sotheby’s in London.
The artwork, which is expected to sell for up to £65 million, will be offered in the marquee modern and contemporary evening auction on June 27.
Lady With A Fan was created when Klimt was in his artistic prime, and at a moment when the “formality” of his earlier commissioned work gave way to a new expressivity.
The Austrian artist died unexpectedly in 1918 at the age of 55.
He began his work on Lady With A Fan in 1917, by which time he was among the most celebrated portraitists in Europe, receiving commissions at prices far higher than his contemporaries.
However, this was a rare work painted entirely in the pursuit of his own interests and demonstrates a “freedom and spontaneity” that reflects Klimt’s joy in painting, according to experts.
Unlike traditional vertical “portrait” paintings, Lady With A Fan returns to the square format that Klimt used for his avant-garde landscapes earlier in the century, giving this painting a uniquely “modern” edge.
