Following Olga Jäger's death in 2006, her heirs asked for the works to be returned, but they could not be found.
Three works by Egon Schiele—an oil painting, a watercolor, and a drawing—are still missing. According to a spokesperson for the city of Linz, there are "no serious indications" that the works were in the possession of the former Lentos Museum secretary.
The symbolist painter Klimt is known for the works celebrating the female body, such as The Kiss, his early 20th century painting of oil and gold leaf depicting an embracing couple whose bodies form a near-perfect rectangle.
Left: Gustav Klimt. Kiss, 1908.
Meanwhile, Austrian police claims they will resume the investigation into the three missing Schiele works.
Another amazing discovery happened this month in London. A long-lost painting of a Nigerian artist was found in the North London, at an apartment of an ordinary family. "Tutu" is one of the most iconic pieces of contemporary African art in over 50 years.
Nigerian artist Ben Enwonwu painted the portrait of a young woman named Adetutu Ademiluyi, known as Tutu, in 1974. She was a royal princess of Ife, an ancient city in southwest Nigeria that’s considered the ancestral home of the country’s second largest ethnic group, the Yoruba.
The African Mona Lisa was last displayed at the Italian embassy in Lagos in 1975, and was bought by the father of the north London family during a business trip. "Tutu" will lead Bonhams' "Africa Now" auction in London on Feb. 28 estimated at £200,000 — £300,000. If it goes over the upper limit it will set a new record for a modern Nigerian artist.
Left: Ben Enwonwu, "Tutu", 1974.
Based on materials ArtDaily, The Telegraph, The Guardian, NY Times.
