An unfinished masterpiece of Austrian modernism, "Portrait of Fraülein Lieser" by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt, has reappeared in a private collection. The painting, which was considered lost for 100 years, was sold at an auction in Vienna for 30 million euros.

"Portrait of Fräulein Lieser," which Klimt did not complete, was painted in the spring of 1917, a year before the artist's death. At the time, Klimt was one of the most famous portrait painters in Europe.

Before the Vienna auction house im Kinsky announced in January that the portrait had been discovered in a private collection, the public was only aware of a black-and-white photograph of the painting.

The discovery of this portrait, which has been called "one of the most beautiful of Klimt's last period of work," was a sensation. The mysterious background of the portrait's return created a considerable buzz around the painting. On the eve of the auction, about 15 thousand visitors took the opportunity to see the painting exhibited at im Kinsky. Some key questions about the painting remain unanswered, including the identity of its subject and its origins in the Nazi era.

Photo: imkinsky.com

The commissioned portrait is believed to depict one of the daughters of Adolf or Justus Lieser, who were brothers from a wealthy family of Jewish industrialists. Some art historians have identified the nanny, Margaret Constance Lieser, as Adolf Lieser's daughter.

But im Kinsky suggested that the painting could also depict one of the two daughters of Justus Lieser and his wife Henrietta, a patroness of modern art. The auction house claims that the "aging" of the portrait with the help of artificial intelligence revealed a clear resemblance to Helen Lieser, an economist who died in 1962.

In January, the auction house announced the discovery of a painting that was considered lost.