Klimt on display in Rome with Portrait of a Lady

Inaugurated last October 27, "Klimt. The Secession and Italy"Can be visited until March 27, 2022 in the spaces of Palazzo Braschi, in Rome. Thus Gustav Klimt, who was awarded at the International Art Exhibition in Rome in 1911, returns to our country with an exhibition event.

"Klimt. The Secession and Italy ”, what to see in the Roman exhibition

Paintings, drawings, sculptures, vintage posters: “Klimt. The Secession and Italy ”is a thorough and complete miscellany of the Austrian painter's work. A path that allows you to get close to some of his most iconic works: Judith I, Lady in white, Friends I (The Sisters), Amalie Zuckerkandl. Even The bride, for the first time outside the Klimt Foundation, and fascinating Portrait of a Lady. And it is right at the Portrait of a Lady, which the exhibition dedicates an in-depth study. Because, stolen in circumstances never clarified by the Ricci Oddi Modern Art Gallery in Piacenza, it was found in the same gallery wrapped in an envelope. A real mystery, which deserves to be told.

The exhibition is divided into 14 sections, retracing Klimt's entire career as co-founder of the Viennese Secession and as a deep lover of Italy, a country in which he exhibited and traveled several times. Next to the over 200 works by Klimt, the visitor can admire the works of other artists of the Belvedere Museum, but also autograph postcards to testify the cities that Klimt himself visited: Trieste, Venezia, Florence, Pisa, Ravenna, Rome and the Lake Garda (in Ravenna he fell in love with Byzantine mosaics, while the Garda influenced the painting of his landscapes). The entrance ticket to “Klimt. The Secession ”costs 13 euro + 5 audio guide. The museum is open Monday to Friday from 10am to 20pm, Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 22pm.

The (mysterious) story of the Portrait of a Lady

Among all the works of Gustav Klimt, Portrait of a Lady it is the most mysterious. Not so much for how it was born, but for the story that revolves around its disappearance. Painted between 1916 and 1917, the picture is kept in the rooms of the Ricci Oddi Modern Art Gallery in Piacenza. In fact, the collector Giuseppe Ricci Oddi bought it in 1925 (previously, the work belonged to Luigi Scopinich). In fact, an X-ray analysis carried out in the XNUMXs by the maturanda Claudia Maga showed that the Portrait of a Lady as we know it today, it is nothing more than a reproduction of the original work, which was lost in 1917. Exposed to Desdra, the painting that Klimt initially painted portrayed a woman with a hat and was entitled Portrait of Girl.

Officially, the Portrait of a Lady it was lost on February 22, 1997 during the renovation of the Piacenza museum. The frame was found on the roof, but there was no trace of the work. Then, after the discovery of a forgery addressed to Bettino Craxi, in December 2019 the painting reappeared. It was discovered by gardeners, who noticed a plastic bag hidden in a recess in the facade. A mystery that, to date, has not yet been clarified.

Featured photo taken from the Facebook page Museum of Rome @MuseoDiRoma · History Museum