Estimate: € 10.000–12.000

Matt albumen print, Vintage, mounted in original passepartout

20,2 x 14,6 cm

Photographer's stamp on the reverse, handwritten neg. no. “688” in ink on the reverse, dedicated by Johanna Zimpel-Klimt (sister of Gustav Klimt) to Johanna Staude in ink on the mount

PROVENANCE Private Collection Vienna

LITERATURE Monika Faber (ed.), Madame d’Ora, Wien–Paris. Portraits aus Kunst und Gesellschaft 1907–1957, Vienna / Munich 1983, p. 169 (other portrait from the same shooting).

This portrait of Gustav Klimt, an early image by Dora Kallmus and Arthur Benda, was taken one year after the opening of Atelier d’Ora in Wipplingerstraße 24–26, and shows the painter at age 45, the year the Secession artists organised their first »Internationale Kunstschau« in 1908. It is possible that Klimt commissioned a portrait on this occasion. Madame d’Ora was an art aficionado and by 1907 had already made the acquaintance of many local artists when she studied with Nicola Perscheid in Berlin. After her return to Vienna, she and Arthur Benda kept developing the style of her former teacher in their studio. Alongside Klimt other artists of the Secession, such as Carl Moll or Alfred Roller, had their portrait taken at d’Ora’s. The rare vintage print was dedicated to Klimt’s model Johanna Staude by Klimt’s sister Johanna Zimpel-Klimt. Like the other two following photographs, it is offered for the first time at an auction.

Start price: €5.000