Klimt · 1904 -1908 · looted work
Water Snakes II eventful history, provenance and restitution
Female bodies float in a liquid, golden and almost hypnotic world. But behind the beauty of Water Snakes II, there is another story: Viennese Jewish collection, Nazi dispossession, disappearance, restitution agreement, private sales and opaque art market.
The short answer
An image of water that has become a provenance folder
Water Snakes II is an oil on canvas by Gustav Klimt, started in 1904 and reworked before 1908. Today it belongs to a private collection. The work is famous for its aquatic eroticism: elongated women, flowing hair, shapes of fish, snakes and plants, all transformed into decorative surfaces.
But its fame also comes from its history of ownership. The painting belonged to Jenny Steiner, a Viennese Jewish collector and patron of Klimt. After the Anschluss of 1938, it was confiscated. It then passes to Gustav Ucicky, a filmmaker close to the Nazi regime and often presented as an illegitimate son of Klimt. For decades, the work remained out of public view.
In 2013, an agreement was reached with the heirs of Jenny Steiner for this private work. It is therefore not a question of a classic museum restitution, but of a transactional settlement: the moral question of dispossession is recognized, and the sale allows the product to be shared between the parties.
I · Analysis
An underwater world where desire becomes a setting
Klimt here takes up a motif that obsessed him around 1900: water as a space of transformation. Bodies are no longer placed in a setting; they themselves become line, wave, hair, algae and ornament.
The horizontal body
The elongated format makes the eye slide as if in a current. The scene is not narrative: it is almost musical.
Water Snakes I
In the parchment version, Klimt already focuses the theme: female couple, marine world and precious material.
Goldfish
Before snakes, golden fish: Klimt already links provocation, sensuality and the aquatic world.
II · Provenance
From the Viennese living room to the disappearance
The provenance of the work reads like a 20th century story: Viennese modernity, anti-Semitic persecution, confiscation, private collection and late legal rereading.
First appearance at the Secession
The Klimt Database indicates that the painting was presented at the 20th Viennese Secession Exhibition in 1904, still unfinished according to reports, then reworked until before 1908.
Jenny Steiner, patron and collector
Jenny Steiner belongs to the world of great Jewish patrons of Vienna 1900. Her collection included works by Klimt and Egon Schiele, and her name is linked to provenance records after 1938.
Confiscation after the Anschluss
After Nazi Germany's annexation of Austria, Jenny Steiner's property was seized. Water Snakes II is drawn into the history of works looted from Jewish owners.
Passage to Gustav Ucicky
The painting goes to Gustav Ucicky, filmmaker of the Nazi regime. He then remained in the Ucicky estate, then with Ursula Ucicky, far from museums and the public.
Back in the market
From 2012, the work reappeared in the private circuit. In 2013, an agreement was reached with the Steiner heirs around the sale of the work.
III · Restitution or agreement?
Why words matter
For a work held by a public museum, restitution can go through a commission, a law or an official decision. For a private work, the release is often done differently: negotiation, compensation, price sharing, confidential agreement or transaction.
| Question | Short answer | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Was the work despoiled? | Sources link it to Jenny Steiner's collection and confiscation after 1938. | The beauty of the painting cannot be separated from its story of dispossession. |
| Was there a classic restitution? | No, not in the sense of a public museum restitution. Sources speak of an agreement with the heirs in 2013. | The case shows how private works can be settled by transaction. |
| Why sell next? | The agreement is related to private sale and sharing of the product. | The market becomes the practical tool for moral and financial settlement. |
| Why does the case remain sensitive? | Because it mixes Nazi dispossession, heirs, confidentiality and financial records. | Provenance is not a footnote: it is a part of the work. |
IV · Art market
Bouvier, Rybolovlev and the dizzying figures
After the 2013 deal, Water Snakes II enters one of the most famous cases of the contemporary art market: the conflict between the Swiss dealer Yves Bouvier and the collector Dmitry Rybolovlev.
Initial sales price reported
Several press sources indicate that the work is sold for around $112 million as part of the agreement linked to the Steiner heirs and Ursula Ucicky.
Resale to Rybolovlev
The painting was then resold to Dmitry Rybolovlev for $183.8 million according to documents and articles on the Bouvier affair.
New private sale
Rybolovlev sold the work to an undisclosed buyer, often described as Asian in the trade press, for around $170 million.
Public return to Belvedere
The work reappears at Belvedere as part of the exhibition Klimt. Inspired by Van Gogh, Rodin, Matisse..., loaned by a private collection linked to HomeArt.
What this story reveals
The painting moves from a Vienne 1900 salon to a story of dispossession, then to a private transaction that has become almost a symbol of the opacity of the high-end market. Few works show so clearly how beauty, law and money come together.
V · Images
See the work and its circle
The following images replace Water Snakes II in the Klimt aquatic cycle and in the Steiner story.
Water Snakes II
The complete work, in landscape format: water transforms bodies into sinuous lines.
Water Snakes I
A vertical, more intimate work, which allows us to understand the couple's transition to the aquatic landscape.
Goldfish
Aquatic bodies at Klimt are also a response to criticism: desire, irony and decor.
Trude Steiner
A portrait linked to the Steiner family, reminding us that provenance is also a story of people.
Reproducible detail
The decorative detail works very well indoors: curves, gold, skin and movement.
VI · The painting hanging in the museum
Water Snakes II visible at Belvedere in 2023
These photos from the exhibition Klimt. Inspired by Van Gogh, Rodin, Matisse... show the work in its actual hanging context. Isolated reproduction helps analyze the painting; the view from the room recalls its material presence, its horizontal size and the dialogue with neighboring works.
The work in theaters
Right, Water Snakes II appears in its dark box. The room distance makes its landscape format and its aquatic frieze effect readable.
The exhibition route
This view does not directly show the painting, but places his return to Belvedere in an exhibition dedicated to Klimt's modern influences.
Compare with isolated image
The room photo shows the hanging; this reproduction allows you to return to details, hair, fish and golden lines.
Credit and prudence
Exhibition views come from the press around Belvedere 2023, credited Belvedere Wien/Johannes Stoll via Artribune. They are used here to document the hanging of the painting, with cited source.
VII · Real places
The Vienna of the work: Secession, Belvedere, collections
The work is private, but its history passes through public places: the Secession where it appears, Belvedere where it temporarily returns, and the larger space of modern Vienna.
The Viennese Secession
The building-manifesto provides the context for the first presentation of the work in 1904.
The Belvedere
The museum played a major role in the recent exhibition and technical study of the painting.
The Klimt Workshop
A reminder: behind the legend of records, there is first of all workshop work, studies and covers.
Shop
Continue with Klimt: water, gold and decorative body
The universe of Water Snakes II leads to the Klimt, Art Nouveau, Symbolism collections and to decorative female figures.
Sources
Sources used
The article combines specialized sources on Klimt, Wikimedia Commons notices and press sources on the reappearance and private sales.
Eros and Vanitas
Creation, exhibition from 1904, covers, link with Serpents d'eau I and the drawings.
Klimt DatabaseKlimt Today
Restitution, 2013 agreement with the Steiner heirs and Austrian context.
Euronews /AFPReturn to Belvedere
Public reappearance, Ucicky history, sale and loan by HomeArt.
Lexikon ProvenienzforschungJenny Steiner
Biography of the collector, role of patron and context of provenance.
Wikimedia CommonsMain image
Complete work file then imported to Shopify CDN.
Wikimedia CommonsWater Snakes I
Image of sister work preserved at Belvedere.
BelvedereExhibition 2023
Presentation of Water Snakes II in the exhibition Klimt and its influences.
ArtribuneExhibition photos
Belvedere Room Views 2023, credited Belvedere Wien /Johannes Stoll.
The Art NewspaperKlimt Market
Recent benchmarks on private sales and prices of Water Serpents II.
DorotheumPreparatory drawing
Notice of a drawing linked to the first version of Water Snakes II.
Frequently asked questions
Understanding Water Snakes II
When did Klimt paint Water Serpents II?
The work appeared in 1904 at the Viennese Secession, still in progress according to sources, then Klimt reworked it until before 1908.
Where is Water Serpents II located?
The painting belongs to a private collection. However, it was shown at Belvedere in 2023 in the exhibition Klimt. Inspired by Van Gogh, Rodin, Matisse....
Who was Jenny Steiner?
Jenny Steiner was a Viennese Jewish collector and patron of Klimt. His name comes up in several provenance and restitution files.
Was the work despoiled by the Nazis?
Yes, sources link the work to the confiscation of Jenny Steiner's property after the Anschluss of 1938.
Was there restitution?
There was an agreement in 2013 with the Steiner heirs for a private work. This is not the same mechanism as a restitution of a public museum.
Why are we talking about Bouvier and Rybolovlev?
Because the painting was then involved in private sales between Yves Bouvier and Dmitry Rybolovlev, which became emblematic of the opacity of the art market.
Water Serpents II is a liquid painting, but its story is harsh: it forces you to look at beauty with provenance.
In Klimt, desire becomes decor. In the history of the 20th century, this decor also becomes proof, memory and file.
See the reproduction Water Snakes II
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