Gustav Klimt: Painting set to fetch £65m at auction and make history

The final painting by artist Gustav Klimt is expected to fetch up to £65m when it is auctioned in London later this month.

The estimated value of the portrait makes it the most valuable painting ever offered at auction in Europe.

The Dame mit Fächer (Lady with a Fan) is a portrait of an unnamed woman and was painted in 1918.

It was Klimt's very last and was found on an easel in his studio when he died unexpectedly.

The painting has strong Asian influences and is part of the Japonisme trend, which refers to the influence of Japanese art and design among Western European artists.

It also features several Chinese motifs including the phoenix, a symbol of immortality and rebirth, and lotus blossoms that signify love.

The Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimt was born on 14 July 1862.

He was considered an artist ahead of his time and achieved his greatest success during his "golden phase", in which his paintings often included gold leaf.

Klimt celebrated the female body in his work, which was often considered controversial due to its erotic nature.

Other notable works include The Kiss, painted in 1909 and the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II (1912) that was sold for $87.9m (£69.55m at current rates) in New York in November 2006.

He was a great influence on later artists, including Egon Schiele.

Unlike many of Klimt's other portraits, the Lady with a Fan was not a commissioned piece and was painted entirely in the pursuit of his own interests.

Thomas Boyd Bowman, head of impressionist and modern art sales at Sotheby's, said: "The beauty and sensuality of the portrait lies in the detail: the flecks of blue and pink which enliven the sitter's skin, the feathery lines of her eyelashes and the pursed lips that give her face character.

"Klimt here gave himself full freedom to capture on canvas a devastatingly beautiful woman."

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