Beautiful and stylish, Serena Pulitzer Lederer was a star in Viennese society at the turn of the century. For this portrait, commissioned by her husband, the industrialist August Lederer, Klimt used soft, curvy brushstrokes to present Serena as an appearance in white. An upright flower, long-stemmed... like a black tulip', said a critic enthusiastically when the painting was shown in 1901 at the tenth exhibition of the Viennese Farewell - a group founded four years earlier by Klimt and other artists with the aim of placing the city at the forefront of the international art world. The Lederers then formed the finest collection of Klimt's work in private hands.
Discover more Old Masters in the following collections: