Christie's to Sell Klimt Landscape in New York in November

Christie's will offer a Gustav Klimt landscape at its New York evening sale of 20th- and 21st-century art on November 17, and the auction house has guaranteed that it will sell.

The painting is Litzlbergkeller, made by the Austrian artist between 1915 and 1916. Christie's has estimated it at US$60-80 million. An estimate is the auction house's expected price range, and the final result depends on how bidding goes on the night.

The sale is guaranteed, which means Christie's has promised the seller a set amount regardless of whether bidders reach it. Christie's confirmed the guarantee to ARTnews.

The painting has been held by the same private collection for nearly three decades. The seller has not been named.

It has sold before. In May 1997, the family of the current owner bought Litzlbergkeller at Sotheby's in New York for US$14.7 million, a record price for a Klimt at the time, according to ARTnews. The work came from the estate of Serge Sabarsky, a co-founder of the Neue Galerie, a museum in New York devoted to German and Austrian art.

Before the New York sale, the painting goes on view at Christie's Hong Kong showroom from October 27 to 29. Christie's runs its showrooms as spaces where buyers and visitors can see works in person before an auction. That gives people in Hong Kong a chance to see the painting before it travels to New York.

The evening sale on November 17 will be the next time the painting is offered to the public for bidding.