"Hidden for Decades: The Stunning Gustav Klimt Painting of an African Prince Set to Fetch $16 Million"

After World War II, that portrait was considered lost — until an Austrian couple brought a photograph of the painting to Wienerroither & Kohlbacher Gallery in Vienna in 2023. Despite its initially poor condition, the painting was found to be a genuine Klimt piece after an expert examination.

Now, this historic artwork is on display at TEFAF Maastricht in the Netherlands, where it’s expected to fetch $16 million.

A Lost Gustav Klimt Artwork Suddenly Reappears In A Vienna Art Gallery

In 2023, a couple walked into the Wienerroither & Kohlbacher Gallery in Vienna, Austria, with a photo of a painting they had in their possession.

They told a gallery assistant that the painting was an authentic work from Austrian Symbolist Gustav Klimt. However, the poor condition of the artwork — dusty, grimy, and crudely framed — cast doubt over its legitimacy.

“It was not imaginable that this was a Klimt; it was very dirty,” Lui Wienerroither, the co-owner of the gallery, told The Washington Post.

But shortly after the couple left the gallery, co-owner Ebi Kohlbacher tracked them down at a nearby cafe. The gallery then called in art expert Alfred Weidinger to conduct a thorough examination of the painting.

The painting, measuring over two feet high, portrays Prince William Nii Nortey Dowuona, a former leader of the Osu tribe in what’s now Ghana. The illustration captures the African prince in exquisite detail — but the reason why Klimt was able to capture his likeness is tragic.

In 1896, Prince William Nii Nortey Dowuona and other members of his tribe were put on display at the Tiergarten am Schüttel in Vienna as part of an ethnographic exhibition — better known now as a “human zoo.” These exploitative displays were popular across Europe in the 19th century.