A portrait of an unnamed lady by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt bought for 85.3 million kilos ($108.4 million) on Tuesday, setting a brand new report worth for any murals bought at an public sale in Europe, London-based public sale home Sotheby’s mentioned.

The portray, which had been given a information worth of 65 million kilos ($82.9 million), was bought after a tense 10-minute bidding conflict as auctioneer Helena Newman, Sotheby’s head of impressionist and trendy artwork, eked out the ultimate bids in half-million pound increments. Described by Newman as a “technical tour de force, full of boundary-pushing experimentation, as well as a heartfelt ode to absolute beauty,” the portray titled “Dame mit Fächer” (“Lady with a Fan”) was nonetheless on an easel in Klimt’s studio when he died in February 1918.

“It was created when he was still in his artistic prime and brings together all the technical prowess and creative exuberance that define his greatest work,” she mentioned. The fall of the hammer at 74 million kilos broke the stress, triggering a collective exhalation within the room and a spherical of applause. The whole worth contains charges.

The portray bought to a Hong Kong-based artwork advisory agency, bidding on behalf of a collector based mostly there. The earlier highest worth for a portray bought at public sale in Europe was Claude Monet’s “Le Bassin Aux Nympheas” in 2008 at $80.4 million, whereas the report for any murals bought at public sale in Europe was set by Alberto Giacometti’s bronze “Walking Man I,” which went for $104.3 million in 2010.

Sotheby’s mentioned the portray was one in all a small variety of Klimt’s portraits in personal collections. It is now the most costly Klimt paintings bought at public sale anyplace on this planet. It was final supplied on the market practically 30 years in the past, when it was acquired by the household of the current proprietor for $11.6 million, based on the public sale home. ($1 = 0.7847 kilos)

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