Gustav Klimt: Austrian landscapes celebrated

The Osterreichische Galerie Belvedere’s “Gustav Klimt — landscape” is the first exhibition exclusively devoted to this aspect of Klimt’s work. These light-filled and peaceful canvases come up for auction very rarely, and they command the highest prices of all Klimt’s work. The record for a Klimt in the last ten years was the £13.2 million paid for a landscape on canvas, Schloss Kammer am Attersee II (1909), on 9 October 1997 at Sotheby’s London. This record came soon after the USD13.4 million (£8.2 million) paid for Litzlberger Keller am Attersee (1915-1916), another landscape.

True, his works as a whole shed 27% of their value in 2002, but they have nevertheless gained 62% since 1997. Not that any of the paintings put up for auction in the last five years has been of comparable quality to Schloss Kammer am Attersee II. The finest pieces are now to be seen in museums. Only two canvases came up for auction in 2002 and good prints have been just as rare. Basically this makes it hard to set a benchmark price for Klimt’s work in these media.

The Gustav Klimt market primarily consists of works on paper. Drawings and watercolours make up 85% of the Klimt lots going under the hammer. Collectors generally pay USD15,000-30,000 for a good quality piece. But less good drawings are ruthlessly ignored— in 2002 44% of drawings offered for auction were bought in. The finest pieces were offered in the UK. London makes nearly 80% of the turnover in Klimt’s work on 36% of the transactions. Austria and Germany are other important markets for the artist, offering 39% of lots between them and specialising in cheaper works on paper.