Gustav Klimt at Auction

“Litzlberg am Attersee” painted in Vienna by Gustav Klimt around 1914-1915 is hardly the greatest landscape ever done by the master. Yet this did not stop it from soaring to $40.4 million, far above the estimate given as “in excess of $25 million.”

Sotheby’s boldly illustrated for reference purposes two other monumental views of the village Litzlberg am Attersee that are actually vastly superior. But the picture seen at Sotheby’s has a dramatic history that put it in a different perspective.

It was originally acquired from Klimt by a couple of Austro-Hungarian collectors who were great art patrons, Viktor Zuckerkandl and his wife, Paula. After their deaths in 1927, the landscape passed into the collection of Viktor’s sister, Amalie Redlich.

When Hitler, who had incorporated Austria into the German Reich in 1938, decreed the “Final Solution” three years later, Amalie and her daughter Mathilde, who were Jewish, were deported into what is now the Polish town of Lodz. There, they vanished, dying — perhaps murdered — in circumstances unknown. By 1944, the Klimt was hanging on the walls of the Residenz Galerie in Salzburg, also known as the Museum der Moderne Rupertinum.

This year, the landscape was handed over in the spring to Amalie Redlich’s heir. It was announced that a portion of the proceeds of the sale would be donated to the Salzburg museum for the construction of an extension to be named in Amalie Redlich’s memory.

No one can tell to what extent the tragedy surrounding the history of the picture inspired some of those who took part in the very long bidding match for the Klimt. The extreme rarity of large landscapes by the Austrian artist in the market was undoubtedly a major factor in the huge price that “Litzlberg am See” commanded on Wednesday.

Pr.$40,336,000

 

Gustav Klimt (1862-1918)

Houses at Unterach on the Attersee

Pr.$31,376,000

 

Gustav Klimt (1862-1918)

Apple Tree I

Pr.$33,056,000

 

 

Klimt, Gustav

, Austrian, 1862 - 1918

Baby (Cradle)

1917/1918

oil on canvas

overall: 110.9 x 110.4 cm (43 11/16 x 43 7/16 in.)

framed: 116.21 x 115.89 x 6.67 cm (45 3/4 x 45 5/8 x 2 5/8 in.)

Gift of Otto and Franciska Kallir with the help of the Carol and Edwin Gaines Fullinwider Fund

1978.41.1