So, as my title so aptly tells, a 1915 painting by the Austrian artist Klimt was stolen by the Nazis and recently sold at a New York auction for $40.4 million. In July, Salzburg's Museum of Modern Art returned the piece to the owner's grandson, who is now 83 years old.
The artwork, Litzlberg on the Attersee, a painting of a lake in western Austria, was originally owned by Austrian iron magnate Viktor Zuckerkandl before being passed on to his sister, Amalie Redlich, when he died in 1927. In 1941, Redlich was deported and the Nazis seized her collection. The painting went for the most money of all the artworks at the auction, which included works by Gustave Caillebotte ($9.3m), and Tamara de Lempicka ($8.5m). Surprisingly though on the same night another auction house failed to find buyers for quite a few famous works of art which included a Picasso and Degas' sculpture of the teenage dancer.
Degas' sculpture
I chose this article because I find it very interesting, as a person who likes art and is interested in WWII. I'm just truly surprised though, not that the Klimt painting sold for so much because I love Klimt, but that the Picasso and the Degas' sculpture did not sell at all. In fact, the bids on the sculpture didn't even get to half the price it was expected to sell for. Even more so, it was the only sculpture he ever exhibited in his life time. To find the BBC News article on that auction, click here.
Emily, this is really interesting[: I love how ironic it is that the Nazis stole this painting, seeing as Hitler really hated works by artists such as Monet, and Degas, and all the other impressionists' work. This really gives me an impressionist feel.
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