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What the painting shows
Portrait of Gertrud Loew by Klimt is a 1902 standing portrait of nineteen-year-old Gertrud Loew. Today, the painting is held in a private collection after being sold at auction in 2015.
The tall, narrow composition shows Loew standing upright against a pale, softly brushed background with faint vertical streaks and small green square motifs in the upper left. She wears an airy, floor-length white dress layered with sheer fabric and ruffled cuffs. A long stole or scarf hangs around her shoulders and drapes down her front, detailed with rippling borders of pale blue and violet. Her hands rest lightly clasped together at her waist. Red hair gathered loosely on top of her head frames her pale face, rosy cheeks, and direct gaze toward the viewer. Like many of Klimt’s portraits, the image balances delicate facial rendering with loose, flowing garments.
Who the sitter was
The sitter was Gertrud Franziska Sophie Löw, born in Vienna in 1883. Her father, Anton Löw, was a prominent physician who commissioned the painting. He founded his family’s wealth running the Wiener Sanatorium Dr. Anton Loew, a major private clinic where notable figures such as Gustav Mahler later died. Following her father’s death, Gertrud became the principal shareholder of the sanatorium enterprise.
Gertrud married Johann Arthur Eisler von Terramare in 1903, and in 1912 she married Elemér Felsöványi de Felsö-Vány. She lived in Vienna until 1939, when Nazi persecution forced her to emigrate. She died in California in 1964.
Where to see it
The painting is in a private collection and is not on public display. Gertrud Löw kept the canvas in her possession until her forced emigration in 1939, when she was unable to take it with her. The portrait later passed without her consent to Klimt’s son, Gustav Ucicky, whose widow contributed it to the Klimt-Stiftung in 2013.
After independent provenance research concluded the work qualified for restitution to the Felsöványi family, the foundation and heirs agreed to an auction. In June 2015, Sotheby’s in London auctioned the canvas to an unidentified private collector. You can explore paintings across Klimt’s career to find works that remain on view in museums.
Questions about Portrait of Gertrud Loew
Who was Gertrud Loew?
Gertrud Loew was a Viennese woman born in 1883 whose father, the physician Anton Löw, ran a prominent private clinic in Vienna. Later known as Gertrud Felsöványi after her second marriage, she inherited primary ownership of the sanatorium enterprise. Facing persecution under the Nazi regime, she fled Austria in 1939, leaving her art collection behind, and eventually settled in California, where she died in 1964.
Who owns Portrait of Gertrud Loew by Klimt?
Portrait of Gertrud Loew by Klimt is owned by an unidentified private collector. The painting was originally commissioned by the sitter's father in 1902 and remained in her family until she fled Vienna in 1939. After passing through other hands, the portrait underwent provenance research through the Klimt-Stiftung, leading to an agreed restitution and a London auction in June 2015, where a private buyer purchased it.
