Gustav Klimt's painting auctioned for $108 million, becomes most expensive artwork in European auction history
Renowned Austrian artist Gustav Klimt, considered one of the greatest decorative painters of the 20th century, made history with the sale of his last painting at an auction in London.
Gustav Klimt's final work, titled "Dame mit Fächer" or "Lady with a Fan", fetched an astonishing £85.3 million ($108 million) at Sotheby's.
The sale made it the most expensive artwork ever sold at a European auction. Prior to this, Alberto Giacometti's 1961 bronze sculpture L'homme qui marche I, worth £65 million ($104.6) in 2010, was the most expensive work ever sold at an auction in Europe.
At the young age of 14, Klimt was admitted to the prestigious Viennese School of Arts and Crafts, where he studied a range of subjects including fresco painting and mosaic. Klimt attracted considerable attention for his frescoes at the Burgtheater in Vienna. This earned him the award of the Golden Order of Merit in 1888 from Emperor Franz Joseph.
