Art Update: Is US$ 45M for this Klimt realistic or a Sotheby's dream?

Breaking News: Sotheby's auction house plans to give its sales a boost by offering this stunning Klimt 1907 "Cottage Garden" painting (above) for a cool USD$45M in the coming weeks. The current owner, whom chooses to remain (fabulously) anonymous, originally purchased it back in 1994 at Christie's auction house for USD$5.8M.

Can Sotheby's really expect to garner 7.75 times the last sale price? It seems that their confidence in Klimt's garden series is indeed based on experience. (below: Austrian Symbolist painter, Gustav Klimt, who lived from 1862 til 1918, in his garden with his friend Emilie Floge, in Vienna, 1910).

In 2010, Sotheby's managed to fetch USD$43M for another of Klimt's landscapes, the 1910 "Church in Cassone - Landsape with Cypresses." Kilmt's landscapes, (while never as popular to date as his portraits), are starting to attract broader interest not only from the more seasoned art world collectors but also from newer collectors (including - you guessed it - the odd reality star or two and occasional chat-show host). (below: Smart investor, Oprah Winfrey, who made a purchase of a Klimt painting for USD$87.9M and then re-sold it later for USD$150M when she felt the market was hot).

Typically, it's been Klimt's portraits that have been the real money-makers. Christie's auctioned off the spectacular "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer ll" in 2006 for USD$87.9M (which was, at the time, the third most lucrative art auction sale ever made). The buyer? None other than Ms Oprah Winfrey! Winfrey then wisely cooled her jets until 2016, when she re-sold the painting (below) for a nifty USD$150M.

(above: The Austrian artist, Gustav Klimt and his long-time friend, Emilie Floge, in Vienna, 1910. Floge designed the long, Asian/Moroccan-inspired gowns and dresses featured here and in many of Klimt's paintings. She's said to be the female figure in Klimt's iconic painting, "The Kiss.")

While it remains to be seen as to whether Sotheby's can indeed clinch this deal, no one is 100% certain however if you'd like to find out more about the art and life of Gustav Klimt, email us to receive the current e-copy and/or print version of Goldrush Magazine, via: info@goldrushmagazine.com