Klimt · 1917 -1918 · late portrait
The Fan Lady last completed work and imaginary garden
An almost perfect square, a bare shoulder, a fan, a sliding kimono, phoenixes, lotuses and a vibrant yellow background: in his latest completed work, Klimt no longer paints a worldly portrait. He invents a mental garden where the figure dissolves in the decor.
The short answer
The Lady with the Fan is Klimt's last completed portrait, a free synthesis of his late obsessions
The Fan Lady, also called Lady put Fächer or Lady with a Fan, is painted between 1917 and 1918. The work was still in Klimt's last studio when the artist died on February 6, 1918. It does not have the solemn finish of a classic commissioned portrait: on the contrary it seems to breathe experimentation, freedom and an almost decorative joy.
The woman is not identified with certainty. This is important: the image does not function as a social biography. The real subject is the agreement between a body, fair skin, a bare shoulder, a fan, patterned clothing and a background saturated with flowers and birds. The figure is not placed in front of a setting; it is caught in imaginary vegetation.
After the golden period, Klimt increasingly replaced gold with color, floral motifs, textiles, solid colors and references to Far Eastern art. In this painting, all this comes to maturity: the portrait becomes a garden, a screen, a kimono, a silent theater.
I · Analysis
A square portrait where the decor becomes a subject
The composition does not seek depth. It unfolds like a surface: the body, the fan, the clothing and the background belong to the same visual fabric.
The square
Klimt uses a format he likes in his landscapes. Here he makes the portrait less official and more modern.
The bare shoulder
Sensuality does not come from a story, but from a slippage: the garment opens and reveals the skin.
The fan
It masks and reveals. The accessory becomes a screen, a sign of elegance and an erotic threshold.
Living yellow
The background is not neutral: it pulses, absorbs the figure and gives the painting its solar climate.
II · Imaginary garden
Phoenix, lotus, flowers: the Far East dreamed of by Klimt
Sotheby's highlights the role of Chinese and Japanese motifs in the work: phoenix, lotus, flat areas, juxtaposition of motifs and taste of textiles. The phoenix can evoke immortality, luck or rebirth; lotuses refer to love, purity or marriage according to symbolic traditions.
But Klimt doesn't make a scholarly quote. He transforms these elements into a pictorial climate. The background acts like a screen or a hanging: it does not frame the woman, it absorbs her. The dress, the fanon of the fan, the flowers and the birds make up a single decorative breath.
This is why we can speak of an imaginary garden: there is no soil, no horizon, no perspective. Only a surface inhabited by living signs.
III · The latest works
The Lady with the Fan dialogues with the paintings left in the workshop
In 1918, Klimt left several late works in his last studio. Some are completed, others not. Together, they show a freer, more colorful painting, less held up by official orders.
The Fan Lady
The last completed portrait: free surface, yellow background, kimono, fan and Far Eastern motifs.
The bride
A monumental and unfinished work, often close to The Fan Lady in late exposures.
Adam and Eve
The late figure moves away from gold to become body, textile, decoration and almost mythological presence.
Paintings on easels
The photograph from the last workshop reminds us that these works belong to a brutally interrupted moment.
IV · Real photos
The real places behind the imaginary garden
To avoid leaving the work floating alone, here are the places that help to locate it: workshop, garden, Viennese institutions and museums linked to Klimt.
Klimt-Villa
Klimt's last workshop in Hietzing gives a concrete anchor to his latest paintings.
Workshop Garden
A real counterpoint to the painted garden: vegetation, calm, withdrawal and floral motifs.
Reconstructed interior
Textiles, objects, furniture and images: Klimt's material universe nourishes its decorative surfaces.
Belvedere
Belvedere presented Lady with Fan in an exhibition dedicated to Klimt's latest works.
Viennese secession
The taste for flatness, decor and total art belongs to this Viennese climate.
Albertina
Klimt's late drawings allow us to understand how figures are born before painting.
V · History and market
From Klimt's workshop to the 2023 European record
The work remained in private hands for a long time. In June 2023, Sotheby's presented it in London and sold it for £85.3 million with fees, a record for a work sold at auction in Europe at that time.
| Date | Episode | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 1917 - 1918 | Klimt paints Lady put Fächer | The work belongs to the last moment of its production, just before his death. |
| 1918 | The painting remains in his workshop | Sotheby's and Belvedere connect it to the photography of the works on easels. |
| 2021 -2022 | Exhibition at Belvedere | The public can revisit the work in the context of Klimt's later paintings. |
| June 27, 2023 | Sotheby's London Sale | The sale reached £85.3 million with fees, or approximately $108.4 million. |
Shop
Extend the Klimt universe at home
Even if The Fan Lady not always available for reproduction in the store, its themes lead to Klimt, Art Nouveau, Japonism, portraits and decorative paintings.
Sources
Reliable sources used
Notices and reference documents to check the date, status of last work, motifs, exhibition and sale.
Final masterpiece
Background of the sale, Asian motifs, workshop, collection and estimate.
BelvedereLady with Fan
Exhibition 2021 -2022 on Klimt's latest works.
Klimt DatabaseRecord result
Presentation of the sales result and the context with it The Bride.
Klimt DatabaseLady with Fan to be auctioned
Landmarks on the workshop, Böhler, fan pattern and Asian elements.
Wikimedia CommonsImage of the work
The Art NewspaperSale 2023
Confirmation of the final price and the European auction record.
Frequently asked questions
Understanding The Lady with the Fan
Is The Lady with the Fan really Klimt's last work?
She is usually presented as his last completed portrait. Other late works, like The bride or Adam and Eve, remain unfinished.
When did Klimt paint The Lady with the Fan?
The painting is dated 1917 -1918, shortly before Gustav Klimt's death on February 6, 1918.
Who is the woman depicted?
His identity is not established with certainty. The work functions more as a decorative apparition than as an identified worldly portrait.
Why is the table square?
The square format gives the portrait a particular modernity. It brings the work closer to Klimt's landscapes and transforms the background into an autonomous surface.
What patterns do we see in the background?
It features birds, including phoenixes, flowers, lotuses and designs linked to Klimt's interest in Chinese and Japanese art.
Where is The Lady with the Fan today?
The work belongs to a private collection. It is therefore not permanently visible in a museum.
How much did the work reach at auction?
On June 27, 2023, it sold at Sotheby's London for £85.3 million with fees, or approximately $108.4 million.
The Lady with the Fan is a farewell without sadness: Klimt transforms the portrait into a garden, a textile and a dream of color.
Last work completed, it does not close a career: it shows how far Klimt could still have gone.
Explore Klimt reproductions
0 comments