A crime story surrounding “Portrait of Miss Leeser” by Gustav Klimt?

On the eve of a planned auction, the development of a scandal surrounding “Portrait of Miss Leeser” by Gustav Klimt, reports Tsvetana Delibaltova, especially for BTA.

The electronic edition of the Austrian daily newspaper “Kronenzaitung” published an article by the cultural journalist Dr. Karl-Heinz Roshitz, in which he said:

“Behind-the-scenes whirlwind: On Wednesday, April 24, the unfinished “Portrait of Miss Lieser”, created in 1917 by Gustav Klimt, will be auctioned at the Viennese auction house “Im Kinski”. A record result of at least 50 million euros is expected .

Prominent Klimt scholars such as Professor Tobias Natter and Dr. Alfred Weidinger, as well as Jewish Cultural Community restitution expert Erika Jakubowitz, are outraged. Many questions remain unanswered.

The painting “Portrait of Miss Leeser” (1917-1918) by Gustav Klimt (Photo: ©Im Kinski Auction House OOD/BTA)

Who does the picture depict? Is it, as Natter and Weidinger suggest, Margarethe Constance, the mother of the Viennese banker William de Gelsey, who in the last years of his life diligently searched for the portrait of his mother painted by Klimt? He was sure: “You will see that it will appear immediately after my death.” And that’s exactly what happens – Gelsi dies in 2021 and the picture appears.”

But how is it possible that the Federal Office for Cultural Monuments issued an export license as “Jewish restitution property” to the decades-lost Klimt work with a decision of October 2023, even though it was apparently never confiscated by the Nazis, asks Karl- Heinz Roshitz.

The scientific documents submitted to the Office of Cultural Monuments at the time seem questionable, as important details have only been learned after research conducted in recent months, the author continues.

And Klimt researchers, cultural politicians and international commentators – for example from the newspapers “Republika”, “Süddeutsche”, “Sunday Times London” and “New York Times”, which talk about “Klimt’s Viennese criminal history” are afraid , that the work would disappear as an investment into some bank vault in Hong Kong or Shanghai, never to be seen again, and thus be lost to the research of Gustav Klimt’s work in Austria.

Many people rightly question whether the Federal Office for Cultural Monuments should delay this auction so that research can continue, including in the area of ​​the provenance of the work.