LONDON — A rare painting by Austrian expressionist Egon Schiele that was once feared lost is expected to fetch from $7.1 million to $10.7 million when it is auctioned June 20, Christie's auction house said.
Owned by Austrian art collector Karl Gruenwald, "Wilted Sunflowers (Autumn Sun II)" was part of a collection of work stored in France that was confiscated and sold in 1942, four years after Gruenwald had fled to the country during World War II.
It was only when the painting's most recent owner requested a valuation that the work was identified as the original. The owner wishes to remain anonymous, and the painting was officially restituted to Gruenwald's family in February, Christie's said.
Seven members of the Gruenwald family beamed for photographers as they stood near the work that was mounted on a blue wall in a spacious exhibition hall.
"Our biggest hope was that it wasn't destroyed," said Cory Pollack, granddaughter of Karl Gruenwald, who died in 1964. "We feel really emotional because it's very much a part of our family's legacy."
"It had become increasingly unlikely to imagine that Egon Schiele's 'Wilted Sunflowers (Autumn Sun II)' would publicly resurface," Jussi Pylkkanen, president of Christie's Europe, said in a statement.
The painting will be flown to New York, Geneva and Hong Kong for private viewings before being auctioned at Christie's on June 20.