- The woman is reported to have revealed the drawing’s whereabouts in her will
- The piece is one of four works – three still missing – at the centre of a legal battle
- They were given to the city of Linz on a long-term loan – but the family of an art collector has fought a prolonged legal battle to get them back
A drawing by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt which disappeared from a museum collection has been found in the cupboard of a recently deceased former secretary, officials have said.
The woman is reported to have taken the drawing years ago, but left a will describing its location and asking for it to be returned upon her death, Artnet.com reported.
The drawing ‘Zwei Liegende’ (‘Two Reclining Figures’) is one of four works by Klimt and fellow pioneer of Viennese Modernism Egon Schiele that have been at the centre of a drawn-out legal battle between the city of Linz and the heirs of artist and collector Olga Jaeger.
Two employees of Sotheby’s auction house admire (in June 2015) a portrait of Gertrud Loew (Gertha Felsovanyi) done by Gustav Klimt in 1902 with an estimate of £12-18 million
The missing art work was found in a cupboard at the art museum on Linz (above)
Gustav Klimt was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement – he is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches and other objets d’art
Jaeger had given the works to a museum in Linz on long-term loan in 1951. But when her descendants asked for them back in 2006, they were nowhere to be found.
They took the city to court and after a long legal battle were awarded damages of 8.21 million euros ($10.1m).
Now city authorities say that the Klimt drawing has been tracked down. From next month until May the drawing will be included in of one of the dozens of exhibitions being organised in Austria to commemorate the centenary of the deaths of Klimt and Schiele.
The artwork will then be returned to Jager’s descendants on condition they pay back some of the compensation they were awarded for the lost work.
It will then be returned to Jaeger’s descendants as long as they forfeit the compensation awarded for the work.
The three works by Schiele – an oil painting, a watercolor, and a drawing – are still missing. A spokesperson for the city of Linz said there are ‘no serious indications’ that the works were in the possession of the former Lentos Museum secretary.
Austrian police have said they will continue their efforts to locate the three missing works. A police spokesperson told the Austrian press agency APA: ‘Whoever may be in possession of a lost artwork should ask themselves if they are handling stolen goods, and do the reasonable thing and come forward.’