A fan-tastic Klimt sells for $108.7 M: auction preview and recap

Preview and recap of the auction of Gustav Klimt’s “Lady with a Fan”, with a pre-sale estimate in the region of $80 million / £65 million and sold for $108.7million / £85.3 million

By G. Fernández – theartwolf.com · Image: Gustav Klimt, “Dame mit Fächer” (Lady with Fan).

In my personal review of the art auctions in New York last month, I noted the absence of “superstar” works compared to previous years, mentioning that there were no works with not just a “hundred-million-dollar” price tag, but not even a pre-sale estimate above $50 million. Well, the June auctions in London are, in that regard, an absolute barren land, if it weren’t for the last-minute inclusion of “Lady with a Fan,” one of Gustav Klimt’s most important works to hit the market in recent times.

Considered – along with “The Bride” – to be the last work painted by Gustav Klimt before his death in 1918, and a perennial candidate to enter my list of the 200 most valuable paintings in private hands, “Lady with Fan” is an excellent and very important Klimt, coming to auction with a pre-sale estimate of around $80 million (£65 million). In terms of importance, it can be considered superior to the “Birch Forest” which fetched over $100 million at the already legendary auction of the Paul Allen Collection last November, although that one had the advantage of coming from a collection of great “pedigree”. Although smaller in scale, it is far more interesting and relevant than the “Portrait of Mia Munk” auctioned in 2010 for almost £19 million. It does not, however, reach the level of the two portraits of Adele Bloch-Bauer -both belonging to the artist’s “golden period”- sold for well over $100 million in 2006 and 2016. Update (June 27): “Lady with a Fan” fetched $108.7million / £85.3 million, slightly over the price achieved last year by “Birch Forest”, which is both surprising and oddly satisfying!

The identity of the model in “Lady with a Fan” is unknown, although there are various theories as to who the model might have been. Sotheby’s notes that the “transcendental notion of womanhood – the éternal féminin – had a long heritage, inspiring generations of artists and some of the most celebrated works ever painted. Klimt embraces this ideal whilst modernising it. His women are beautiful, and the unnamed portraits in particular are archetypal, yet his depictions are full of complexity and nuance. His women convey character and independence, whilst their bodies suggest passivity; their ‘noli me tangere’ countenances create distance, yet the suppleness of their skin evokes a latent eroticism. These are contradictions that in many respects encapsulate the position of women in ‘fin de siècle’ Viennese society.”

Like in other late Klimts, the oriental-inspired background in “Lady with a Fan” holds special significance (something that, by the way, could be of particular interest to Asian buyers). Update (June 27): it was sold to an Asian buyer! In a press release, Sotheby’s highlights that in this work, Klimt “gives full expression to his complete fascination with Chinese and Japanese art and culture. Luscious, silken kimonos and Chinese robes are known to have been his dresswear of choice, and his home abounded with beautiful objects from the East“