Gustav Klimt

choi

Kelly Crow, Klimt's Last Portrait Sets Record with $108 Million Sotheby's Sale. Wall Street Journal, June 28, 2023, at page B2.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/gustav-klimt-lady-fan-sale-9187e6ec

Note:
(a)
(i) WSJ print edition on the same day at page B1 has a teaser for the report: "Gustav Klimt's last portrait, 'Lady with a Fan,' sold on Tuesday [June 27] for $108.4 million [actually £85.3 million] at Sotheby's London. It was the highest price paid for an artwork at a European auction."

The emphasis is on European.
(ii) Gustav Klimt
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Klimt
(1862 – 1918 (age 55); Austrian; "Klimt died three years later in Vienna on 6 February 1918, having suffered a stroke and pneumonia brought about by the worldwide influenza epidemic of that year")
(iii) Attached below is the online version. The print does not have the last two paragraphs, or contents within two pairs of brackets in the third paragraph from the bottom. Moreover, the "seminude woman" in paragraph online is "semi-nude woman" in print.

(b) "A Gustav Klimt portrait of a mysterious semi-nude woman clutching a hand fan and standing against a colorful wall of dragons and flowers * * * [online version only:] It's also unclear if the swirl of lotus flowers and birds."
(i) Lady with a Fan (Klimt)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lady_with_a_Fan_(Klimt)
("was found on an easel in his studio when he died, but is not quite completed")
(ii) I see no dragon, and believe the writer made a mistake.


(c) "the $104 million paid by billionaire Lily Safra in 2010 for Alberto Giacometti's spindly bronze sculpture, 'Walking Man I,' and the $80.4 million painting record previously set in 2008 by Claude Monet's 1919 canvas, 'Water Lily Pond.' "
(i) Lily Safra
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily_Safra
(1934-2022)
(ii) Alberto Giacometti
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alberto_Giacometti
(1901 – 1966; Swiss; "Beginning in 1922, he lived and worked mainly in Paris but regularly visited his hometown Borgonovo to see his family and work on his art. * * * He was a descendant of Protestant refugees escaping the inquisition [that is how his ancestors left Italy centuries before]. * * * Giacometti is best known for the bronze sculptures of tall, thin human figures, made in the years 1945 to 1960. Giacometti was influenced by the impressions he took from the people hurrying in the big city")
(A) Walking Man (disambiguation)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking_Man_(disambiguation)
(may also refer to: "L'Homme Qui Marche I (English: Walking Man I), a bronze sculpture created by Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti in 1961")
(B) French-English dictionary:
* homme (noun masculine; ultimately from Latin noun masculine homō human being, man): "man"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/homme
   ^ (The homo- in homosexual is derived from Ancient Greek homos same.)
* qui (pronoun; from Latin pronoun of the same spelling and with the same definitions):
"(interrogative) who, whom  <Tu as vu qui?  Who have you seen?>
(relative) who, whom (after a preposition), which, that   <La personne qui parle connait bien son sujet.  The person who speaks knows his/her subject well.>"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/qui
* marche
(noun feminine): "1: march * * * 3: walk"
(verb): "inflection of marcher: first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive * * *"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/marche
   ^ French president Emmanuel Macron's party is La République En Marche! (LREM; English translation: The Republic on the March!)
* bassin (noun masculine): "pond"  (The English noun basin and Modern French noun bassin came from the same Latin noun.)
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bassin
* * aux (contraction; plural of au): "contraction of à + les ('to the' or 'of the' "
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aux
* nymphéa (noun masculinel from Ancient Greek numphaía): "waterlily"https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/nymphéa

Auguste Rodin has a sculpture of the same title, that is in Metropolitan Museum of Art (The Met).
https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/198565
(C) Reading the wiki would get one confused: how many Walking Man statues by Giacometti remain? The short answer is just two: I and II. See  
L'Homme Qui Marche I. Sotheby's, 2010
https://www.sothebys.com/en/auct ... e-l10002/lot.8.html
("inscribed Alberto Giacometti, numbered 2/6 and with the foundry mark Susse Fondeur Paris
bronze
height: 183cm  72in
* * * 'Walking Man I stands as a symbol of humanity always striving, ever seeking'  Valerie J. Fletcher * * *
The sculpture originated as part of the public project that Giacometti was commissioned to do for the Chase Manhattan Plaza in New York [which was never installed] * * * In preparation for the Chase Manhattan project, Giacometti executed a number of sculptures, among which, according to the sculptor, were at least forty versions of the walking man. However Giacometti destroyed most of them, and only seems to have been satisfied with the two versions that remain today – L'Homme qui marche I and II")

L'Homme qui marche II is in the collection of Fondation Giacometti, Paris. The II looks similar to I, in my eyes. (Compared with the Modern French noun feminine fondation, the English noun foundation came from Middle French, which had the letter u. Both words ultimately came from Latin verb fundāre to found.)
(iii) The English adjective spindly is from spindle + ly.

spindle (textiles)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spindle_(textiles)
(used for spinning threads into yarn)
(iv) Claude (given name)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claude_(given_name)

The e in Claude is silent, in both English and French.
(v)
(A) Water Lilies (Monet series)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Lilies_(Monet_series)
("On 24 June 2008 another of his Water Lily paintings, Le Bassin Aux Nymphéas, sold for almost £41 million at Christie's in London, almost double the estimate of £18 to £24 million")

The French words bassin, aux and nymphéa are defined in (c)(ii)(B).
(B) Nymphaea
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymphaea
("The genus name is from the Greek νυμφαία, nymphaia and the Latin nymphaea, which mean 'water lily' and were inspired by the nymphs of Greek and Latin mythology")

choi

(d) "the artist’s 1903 landscape, 'Birch Forest' "
(i) Mary Weaver Chapin, Seeing Nature: Klimt's Birch Forest. Portland Art Museum, Dec 15, 2015
https://portlandartmuseum.org/8230-2/
("With one month left to experience [the exhibition] Seeing Nature: Landscape Masterworks from the Paul G Allen Family Collection, we'll be posting essay excerpts from the exhibition catalog written by Portland Art Museum curators")
(ii)The painting was in the collection of Microsoft co-founder. After he died, the collection was auctioned off.

(e) "The painting fell shy of breaking the artist's overall record [read: not just European but worldwide auctions], which cosmetics executive Ronald Lauder set in 2006 when he paid $135 million for Klimt's restituted 'Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I,' a shimmering portrait of a woman surrounded by golden-flecked patterns. That restituted painting, which became the subject of a 2015 film, 'Woman in Gold,' is now displayed at New York's Neue Galerie."
(i) restitute
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/restitute

The "restitute" here does not mean to professionally restore the painting, but to return the painting to the rightful owner, as depicted in the 2015 film Woman in Gold.
(ii) Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Adele_Bloch-Bauer_I(table: Location  Neue Galerie, New York; "Adele Bauer * * * Adele's parents arranged a marriage with Ferdinand Bloch, a banker and sugar manufacturer * * * at the time of the marriage in December 1899, she was 18 and he was 35. The couple [both Jewish], who had no children, both changed their surnames to Bloch-Bauer."/ section 2 The Painting, section 2.2 Description: "The painting measures 138 by 138 cm (54 by 54 in); it is composed of oil paint and silver and gold leaf on canvas")
(iii) Woman in Gold (film)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woman_in_Gold_(film)


(f) "His 1907-08 masterpiece, 'The Kiss,' depicts an embracing couple dressed in a riot of patterned fabric. It hangs in Vienna's Belvedere museum."
(i) The Kiss (Klimt)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kiss_(Klimt)
("The painting now hangs in the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere museum in the Belvedere, Vienna")
(ii)
(A) Click "Belvedere," you sense that it is the name of two buildings: Upper Belvedere and Lower Belvedere, both of which were palaces, But that Wiki page did not explain the name.
(B) belvedere (n; Did You Know?)
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/belvedere
(C) Italian-English dictionary:
* bello (adjective masculine; before most consonants: bel; from Latin [adjective masculine] bellus [beautiful]): "beautiful"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/bello
* vedére (v; from Latin verb vidēre): "to see"
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/vedere
(iii) For Österreich in the museum name, see Austria
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austria
(section 1 Etymology)

choi

--------------------online text
A Gustav Klimt portrait of a mysterious seminude woman clutching a hand fan and standing against a colorful wall of dragons and flowers sold Tuesday for $108.4 million at Sotheby’s London, setting a record for any artwork auctioned in Europe.

The 1917-1918 “Lady with a Fan” surpassed both of Europe’s previous titleholders, including the $104 million paid by billionaire Lily Safra in 2010 for Alberto Giacometti’s spindly bronze sculpture, “Walking Man I,” and the $80.4 million painting record previously set in 2008 by Claude Monet’s 1919 canvas, “Water Lily Pond.”

“Lady with a Fan” also topped the $104.6 million paid for the artist’s 1903 landscape, “Birch Forest,” which was bought by an anonymous buyer last year.

The identity of the woman holding the fan remains a mystery, but she likely stood out because the canvas is considered the artist’s final portrait. The work was found sitting on the easel of his studio when he died at age 55 in 1918.

Sotheby’s only expected “Lady with a Fan” to sell for around $80 million, but four bidders pushed it far higher. Adviser Patti Wong won the work following a 10-minute bidding war for one of her clients in Hong Kong, she confirmed after the sale.

The painting fell shy of breaking the artist’s overall record, which cosmetics executive Ronald Lauder set in 2006 when he paid $135 million for Klimt’s restituted “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I,” a shimmering portrait of a woman surrounded by golden-flecked patterns. That restituted painting, which became the subject of a 2015 film, “Woman in Gold,” is now displayed at New York’s Neue Galerie.

The Austrian symbolist was best known for his sensual portraits of lanky, glamorous women whose postures or modern attire marked a departure from the stiffer, salon-style portraits of women that preceded him. His 1907-08 masterpiece, “The Kiss,” depicts an embracing couple dressed in a riot of patterned fabric. It hangs in Vienna’s Belvedere museum.

Few of his portraits still circulate in today’s marketplace, which likely added to the appeal of “Lady with a Fan.”

The “lady” depicted in the work remains anonymous. Curators surmise she was a model he hired[ for the job], rather than an Austrian socialite like Bloch-Bauer, because the woman depicted agreed to pose in the nude, her figure obscured by a[n off-shoulder] kimono and hand fan.

It’s also unclear if the swirl of lotus flowers and birds behind her represent a tapestry, wallpaper or Klimt’s own imagined pattern; the artist was known to admire Japanese motifs.

The sale may go a long way toward underscoring the resilience of the trophy art market despite the fresh shakiness of the art market overall. Klimt remains one of a handful of artists who tend to command top prices in good markets and bad, dealers said. Last month, Klimt’s watery scene, “Insel im Attersee,” sold for $53.2 million to a Japanese collector.