Klimt's Portrait of a Lady goes on display at the Fortress of Bard

Gustav Klimt ’s Portrait of a Lady belonging to the Ricci Oddi Gallery of Modern Art in Piacenza will temporarily go on display at the Fortress of Bard during the winter exhibition season. In fact, the masterpiece marked by a troubled affair will be on display from December 1, 2023 to March 10, 2024 in the spaces of the Military Chapel.

The canvas, which can be dated between 1916 and 1917, is one of three works in Italy by the father of the Viennese Secession and is the only one to have been acquired by a private collector, unlike Judith at the Venetian Ca’ Pesaro and Three Ages of Woman at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome. The painting was purchased in 1925 by Piacenza nobleman Giuseppe Ricci Oddi for his own collection. The painting was initially set up in the billiard room of his residence and then displayed at the Gallery established by the collector himself and opened to the public since 1931. The painting’s story is told at the Forte di Bard exhibition through a striking installation that will serve as a prelude and frame for the work, thanks to a project curated by Forte di Bard, Galleria d’Arte Moderna Ricci Oddi and Skira.

On Feb. 22, 1997, Klimt’s Portrait of a Lady was stolen from the Ricci Oddi Gallery of Modern Art in ways that investigations will never clarify. It will take almost twenty-three years for the painting to reappear, and its discovery will be even more surprising, as on December 10, 2019, during some gardening work, the canvas is found in a small compartment closed by a door without a lock, in a plastic bag.

The canvas belongs toKlimt’s last phase of activity, when his painting became less precious, indulging in almost hasty brushstrokes that betray a more emotional approach, open to expressionist atmospheres. The identity of the woman depicted, who is most likely one of the many models who posed for the artist, is unknown. It is up to a student of a high school in Piacenza, Claudia Maga, to have guessed in 1996 the very peculiar genesis of the work later confirmed by analysis, to which the canvas was subjected: Klimt painted it over an earlier portrait already thought to be lost depicting a young woman identical in face and pose to the present effigy, but differently dressed and coiffed.

The Gustav Klimt, Adventures of a Masterpiece exhibition will be open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturdays, Sundays and holidays from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Closed Mondays. Sunday, Dec. 24 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Christmas closed; Dec. 26 to Jan. 7 open daily.

Pictured: Gustav Klimt, Portrait of a Lady, detail (1916-1918; oil on canvas, 68 x 55 cm; Piacenza, Ricci Oddi Gallery)

Klimt's Portrait of a Lady goes on display at the Fortress of Bard

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