LONDON -- A late-life masterpiece by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt could become the most expensive painting ever sold in Europe when it is auctioned later this month.
Auctioneer Sotheby鈥檚 said on Wednesday that 鈥淒ame mit Fächer鈥� 鈥� 鈥� will go up for sale June 27 in London, with an estimated price of 65 million pounds (US$80 million).
The last portrait Klimt completed before his death in 1918, the painting shows an unidentified woman against a resplendent, China-influenced backdrop of dragons and lotus blossoms.
It was last sold in 1994, going for US$11.6 million at an auction in New York.
Sotheby鈥檚 head of impressionist and modern art department, Helena Newman, said the portrait was 鈥渁 technical tour de force, full of boundary-pushing experimentation, as well as a heartfelt ode to absolute beauty.鈥�
Famed for his bold, daring art nouveau paintings, Klimt was a key figure in artistic modernism at the start of the 20th century. His work has fetched some of the highest prices for any artist. Klimt鈥檚 鈥淧ortrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II鈥� sold at auction in 2006 for US$87.9 million, and his landscape 鈥淏irch Forest鈥� sold at Sotheby鈥檚 last year for US$104.6 million.
Two more of his portraits are reported to have sold privately for more than US$100 million.
The most expensive artworks auctioned in Europe, in dollar prices, are Alberto Giacometti鈥檚 sculpture 鈥淲alking Man I,鈥� sold for US$104.3 million at Sotheby鈥檚 in 2010, and Claude Monet鈥檚 painting 鈥淟e basin aux nymphéas,鈥� which fetched US$80.4 million at a Christie鈥檚 sale in 2008.
The world auction record for an artwork is the US$450.3 million paid in 2017 for Leonardo da Vinci鈥檚 鈥淪alvator Mundi鈥� 鈥� though some experts dispute whether the painting of Jesus Christ is wholly the work of the Renaissance master.
