Klimt Paintings Nazis Stole to Be Sold
Four of five oil paintings by Gustav Klimt that were the focus of a restitution battle between the Austrian government and the artworks' Jewish heirs will be heading to Christie's for sale this fall, the auction house announced Monday.
Christie's has not determined whether the works -- three landscapes and a portrait worth an estimated $100 million -- will be auctioned or sold privately, said Steven Thomas, the Los Angeles attorney who represents the heirs.
''The family only recently decided to go ahead and sell the four paintings,'' Thomas said. ''It's quite possible some or all of them will go to auction in November.''
The four paintings are currently on display at the Neue Galerie, a New York museum of German and Austrian art, along with one of Klimt's most famous works, an ornate portrait of Viennese art patron Adele Bloch-Bauer from 1907.
Read entire article at AP
Christie's has not determined whether the works -- three landscapes and a portrait worth an estimated $100 million -- will be auctioned or sold privately, said Steven Thomas, the Los Angeles attorney who represents the heirs.
''The family only recently decided to go ahead and sell the four paintings,'' Thomas said. ''It's quite possible some or all of them will go to auction in November.''
The four paintings are currently on display at the Neue Galerie, a New York museum of German and Austrian art, along with one of Klimt's most famous works, an ornate portrait of Viennese art patron Adele Bloch-Bauer from 1907.