A Gustav Klimt portrait of a West -African prince, hidden in a private collection, was shown for the first time in almost a century during last week’s European Fine Art Fair in Maastricht, the Netherlands.
Presented by the Austrian gallery Wierrother and Kohlbacher, shows the oil painting of two feet in 1897 Prince William Nii Nortey Dowuon, a member of the GA (OSU) people from present -day Ghana, against a background of blurry floral shapes.
Wienerrother and Kohlbacher rediscovered the work in 2023 after a few collectors brought the painting to the gallery. At the time, the work was poorly framed and heavily polluted. But a faded estate stamp hinted that it was an original Klimt, a fact that was later confirmed by art historian and Klimt expert Alfred Weidinger, who was looking for the portrait for about 20 years.
“The composition and picturesque version point to Klimt’s turn to decorative elements, which would characterize his later work, and are directly linked to his groundbreaking portraits of the following years,” Weigher said in a statement shared with shared with Hyperallergic.
The flower elements in the painting can also be seen in Klimt’s “Portrait of Sonja Knips” (1897–8) and in later works such as portraits of Mäda Primavesi (1912–13) and Eugenia Primavesi (1913–14).
The work was created in the same year that Klimt the Vienna Secession Movement With a group of Austrian architects, sculptors and painters who want to get away from the rigid traditional styles and hierarchies of the art institutions of the country at the time.
But in addition to serving as an early example of this progressive art movement, the painting also catches a dark side of European colonial history, because the subject of the painting had been recruited to participate in a Viennese VölkerschauExplinating ethnographic display cases or “human zoos” that were popular on the continent in the 19th century. Based on ethnic stereotypes, this one exhibitions In general, communities from Asia, Africa and indigenous communities in northern regions were displayed.
Weidener told the Washington Post That Prince William Nii Nortey Dowuon and 120 members of the OSU tribe participated in “guest versions” in Vienna from April to October 1897, where they were shown for around 10,000 people every day.
It was at this time that the prince was in Vienna that Klimt and another Austrian artist, Franz Matsch, painted his portrait. Weidener told the After That a potential customer may have chosen the version of Matsch, because the version of Klimt missed a signature.
The painting was auctioned from his legacy in 1923 and left in 1938 when the Jewish owners fled the Nazi regime. Since the 1950s, work was in a private collection, Weigher told the Washington Post.
After a refund scheme with the heirs of the original owners of the painting and more than 18 months of restoration work, the painting made his public debut in Maastricht, where it could be seen from 15 to 20 March. It was for sale for € 15 million ($ 16.2 million) – previous climbing paintings for € 30 million ($ 32 million) and £ 85.3 million ($ 108.4 million) – and attracted interest from various parties, including a museum and some private buyers, the Washington Post reported, although the gallery has not confirmed whether it has been sold.
A representative for the gallery told Hyperallergic That the finding was unusual to say the least. Although it is generally specialized in works by Klimt and the Austrian expressionist Egon Schiele, “rediscovers the gallery by the artists in general drawings and watercolors, because of their high output of works on paper – not working on canvas.
“It is extremely rare for lost or previously unknown paintings by the two artists to be discovered again,” said the gallery representative.
