Friday 17th October
He is in my top 10 of artists whose work I’d love to own and his “golden” painting of Adele block Bauer 1, is possibly my favourite paintings of all time. I was therefore extremely interested to hear that another portrait of Elizabeth Lederer was coming up for auction at Sotherbys in New York in November and it has an intriguing back story as reported by Sarah Cascone in this article (which I have abbreviated here).
In her ArtNet piece, Sarah Cascone highlights the highly anticipated auction of Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914–16) at Sotheby’s New York on November 18. The portrait is the star lot of the late Leonard Lauder’s collection, being sold as part of a major November sales event.
Cascone notes the work’s impressive estimate, up to US $150 million and suggests it could shatter previous auction records for the artist. The current public auction record for a Klimt is £85.3 million (≈ US $108 million) for Lady with a Fan (2023) though privately traded Klimts have reached even higher sums.
Cascone describes the painting: a full-length image of a pale, dark-haired young woman in a delicate white dress and embroidered robe, set against a richly patterned decorative background with small figures and motifs. She also delves into the painting’s provenance: it comes from Lauder’s collection (he died in June 2025) and had been on long-term loan to the National Gallery of Canada, after earlier loans to New York’s Neue Galerie.
Importantly, Cascone emphasizes that the painting’s story is nearly as compelling as its price. The Lederer family were major patrons of Klimt. The portrait also carries a dramatic subplot: during the Nazi era, Elisabeth Lederer—though born to a prominent Jewish family survived by claiming that Klimt was her father, thus impacting her racial classification under Nazi racial laws. Cascone further notes symbolic details in the portrait, such as two stylized dragons woven into the robe, possibly referencing imperial iconography and underscoring the family’s status.
Overall, she presents the sale as a landmark moment both for the art market and for Klimt scholarship the painting’s aesthetic, historical, and emotional weight making it.
Looted Nazi paintings continually surface and are repatriated by the Art Squads whose work is to seek them out. Some obviously survived with the families they belonged to. This was an incredibly dark period in the history of art and the stories will continue to emerge.
I spent 3 days this week indoors painting the watercolours and cards for Oban. I’ve ordered mounts online as my studio is still so crowded that I haven’t room to cut my own.
On Saturday we delivered 19 oil paintings to Blagdon Gallery. They were happy to accept all of them and posted a picture on social media of them all hanging together. They have also taken some cards and calendars. It will be interesting to see how the new paintings are received, as they are yet another different style for me.
My “No Worry Worksop “ for Longframlington Art Group on Friday went well. 20 members attended and they are a nice bunch with a mix of abilities. Many had not attempted watercolours for a long time and although they found it difficult, really enjoyed doing it.
In the morning session, I demonstrated 2 10”×12” paintings, simultaneously, in stages for them to follow. In the afternoon session I demonstrated 2 7”×5” cards for them to try. They all had a good go. I get some really lovely comments during these demo’s and I always enjoy them and feel a true sense of community spirit. They’ve already asked me back after Christmas. I also supplemented my fee with some sales of cards, framed cards, which I’d taken as examples for them to copy, and a calendar.
My next “project “ will be a series of paintings for OCG in Ambleside of “ Mountains of Lakeland “.
I received an interesting email from Beckstones Gallery asking me if I would be interested in a commission from one of their customers. The subject is a farm in the Pennines that they have been on holiday to for many years. The size is 70cm x 120cm. The catch is that she’s chosen 3 of her favourite artists and commissioned a smaller version, from which she will choose her favourite for the commission. I’ve asked for clarification that the “tester” as she’s called them will be paid for? After all a painting is a painting.
I discovered they would buy the small “tester “ painting and so on Thursday I did a 12”×16” version in oils, an image of which I’ve sent to the Gallery.
I’m now waiting on my canvases to start my new project.