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Insel im Attersee

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Insel im Attersee
ArtistGustav Klimt
Year1901-1902
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions100.5 cm × 100.5 cm (39.6 in × 39.6 in)
Locationprivate collection, japan

Insel im Attersee is a 1901-1902 landscape painting by the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt (1862-1918).[1][2][3]

The work was created between 1901 and 1902 during Klimt’s summers on Lake Attersee. The painting is an early example of a work executed in the square format Klimt would come to be known for.[4][5] Insel im Attersee was owned by Paul and Irene Hellmann,[6] a Jewish couple who were persecuted by the Nazis. Irene and her son, Bernhard, were both murdered in the Holocaust, Irene in Auschwitz in 1944 and Bernhard in Sobibor in 1943.[7][8][9][10]

In May of 2023 the painting sold for $53.2 million at Sotheby's in New York City. The work was sold from the collection of Otto Kallir who exhibited it in the landmark show Saved from Europe at his art venue Galerie St. Etienne in New York City in 1940. The work ostensibly introduced Klimt's work to a North American viewership.[11][12]

From 1898 forward, Klimt spent his summers in the Salzkammergut region of Austria where Lake Attersee is located and it was here that he was able to paint en plein air for the first time.

This painting is one of two that Klimt did of the same view between 1900 and 1902, with first work titled Attersee dating from 1900 now residing in the Leopold Museum in Vienna.[13]

Comparisons of this work to paintings by the French Impressionist Claude Monet have been made in accordance of the two artists similarities in their handling of water.[14]

References

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  1. ^ ArtDependence (26 April 2023). "Centerpiece of Gustav Klimt's First Exhibition in America: 'Insel im Attersee' to Make Auction Debut at Sotheby's this May". ArtDependence. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  2. ^ Bregman, Alexandra (16 May 2023). "Sotheby's Sells 'Insel Im Attersee' By Gustav Klimt For $53.2 Million". Forbes. Retrieved 22 May 2023.
  3. ^ Carlie Porterfield (25 April 2023). "Rare Gustav Klimt lake landscape to make auction debut in New York". Theartnewspaper.com. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  4. ^ "Insel im Attersee: Gustav Klimt's Landmark Painting to Auction at Sotheby's". 2 May 2023.
  5. ^ "Rare Klimt Landscape Heads to Auction in New York". 9 May 2023.
  6. ^ "Insel im Attersee (Island in the Attersee) | Modern Evening Auction | 2023 | Sotheby's". 25 May 2023. Archived from the original on 25 May 2023. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  7. ^ "Wie wichtige jüdische Förderer der Salzburger Festspiele einfach vergessen wurden". DER STANDARD (in Austrian German). Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  8. ^ "Mr. Bernhard Wolfgang Hellmann". geni_family_tree. 7 November 1903. Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  9. ^ "About Irene Hellmann-Redlich". Joods Monument. Retrieved 13 November 2023. In 1939, Irene Hellmann fled to the home of her eldest son, Bernhard, who had been living in Rotterdam for some time. During the years of occupation, Irene spent some time living in Bilthoven. She then went into hiding in Amsterdam, where she was betrayed and then captured by the Germans. Irene was murdered in Auschwitz. Her son Bernhard was killed in Sobibor.
  10. ^ "Bernhard Wolfgang Hellmann | Sobibór Gedenksteine" (in German). Retrieved 13 November 2023.
  11. ^ Smithsonian Libraries and Archives. "Saved from Europe : Otto Kallir and the history of the Galerie St. Etienne : in commemoration of the Gallery's 60th anniversary / by Jane Kallir | Smithsonian Institution". Si.edu. Retrieved 23 May 2023.
  12. ^ Schultz, Abby. "Gustav Klimt's 'Insel im Attersee' Fetches US$53 Million at Sotheby's". www.barrons.com.
  13. ^ "Gustav Klimt | Highlights | COLLECTION | Leopold Museum".
  14. ^ "Insel im Attersee (Island in the Attersee) | Modern Evening Auction | 2023".