Gustav Klimt’s 1915–1916 landscape Litzlbergkeller is heading to Christie’s New York for its marquee November 17 evening sale, carrying a pre-sale estimate of $60 million to $80 million and a guarantee ensuring it will sell, Artforum reported.
Christie's Guarantees Sale of Record-Setting Painting
- Christie’s has attached a financial guarantee to the work, assuring a sale at its upcoming November 17 twentieth- and twenty-first-century art auction.
- The painting previously set an artist auction record when it sold for $14.7 million at Sotheby’s New York in May 1997.
- Before the New York auction, the canvas will be exhibited in Hong Kong from October 27 to 29 and at Christie’s Rockefeller Center galleries beginning November 7.
From Lake Attersee to Rockefeller Center
Commissioned by Austrian banker and art patron Otto Primavesi, the canvas depicts a brewery and inn on the northern shore of Lake Attersee in Austria. Klimt regularly spent his summers in the area between 1900 and his death in 1918, capturing the dense green foliage and shimmering reflections across the water in a style blending decorative technique with abstraction, as noted by Anadolu Ajansı.
The painting has remained in the same private collection for nearly three decades, with the seller choosing to remain unnamed, ARTnews.com reported. When it last appeared on the auction block in May 1997, coming from the estate of Neue Galerie co-founder Serge Sabarsky, it brought $14.7 million at Sotheby’s New York—a record sum for the artist at that time, according to ARTnews.com.
Adjusted for inflation, that 1997 price equates to roughly $30.9 million, setting up the current $60 million to $80 million estimate to more than double the previous acquisition price. In recent years, the painting has spent time on long-term loan at the Leopold Museum in Vienna, News.Az reported.
Weighing Against Recent Market Highs
The auction comes amid a high-stakes art market where Klimt’s works command immense sums at the top tier. Giovanna Bertazzoni, chairman of Christie’s Europe, described the painting in a press release as reading "like a lyrical composition in three stanze—the forest with majestic, whispering oak trees; the house embraced by their foliage; the shimmering reflection in the lake," calling the piece "inestimable," ARTnews.com reported.
🎨 Gustav Klimt'in 110 yıllık manzarası açık artırmada: 80 milyon dolara kadar çıkabilir!🧑🎨 Avusturyalı ressam Gustav Klimt’in 1915-16 yıllarında yaptığı “Litzlbergkeller” adlı manzara tablosu, 17 Kasım’da Christie’s müzayedesinde satışa çıkacak. Yaklaşık 110 yıllık eser için… pic.twitter.com/AyujrtrNHb
While Litzlbergkeller commands a massive pre-sale tag, it sits below Klimt’s absolute peak public sale figures. The artist’s auction record currently stands at $236.4 million, achieved in November 2025 when his Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer sold at Sotheby’s New York, according to ARTnews.com and News.Az. Another notable landscape by the artist, Birch Forest, fetched $104.5 million at Christie’s in 2022.
| Painting Title | Sale Year | Auction House | Sale Price / Estimate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Litzlbergkeller (1915–16) | 1997 | Sotheby’s New York | $14.7 million |
| Birch Forest | 2022 | Christie’s | $104.5 million |
| Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914–16) | 2025 | Sotheby’s New York | $236.4 million |
| Litzlbergkeller (1915–16) | 2026 (Upcoming) | Christie’s New York | $60 million – $80 million (Estimated) |
Exhibition Schedule Leading to the November Sale
Prior to going under the hammer during Christie’s fall marquee week, the canvas will travel internationally. The tour begins with an exhibition in Christie’s Hong Kong showroom from October 27 to 29. Following its return to the United States, the work will go on public display at Christie’s Rockefeller Center galleries in New York starting November 7, leading directly into the November 17 evening sale.
