 | See the pictures to go on sale 
|
Four paintings by the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt, stolen by Nazis and later handed back to the heirs of a Jewish family, are to be sold at auction. The paintings were taken before World War II and ended up at the Austrian National Gallery, before a court ruled they should be returned.
Among the paintings is one of the wife of the original owner, Adele Bloch-Bauer.
Another painting of Mrs Bloch-Bauer recently sold for $135m (�70m).
The paintings originally belonged to Mrs Bloch-Bauer's husband Ferdinand, a wealthy Jewish Austrian industrialist.
 Mrs Altmann's aunt is the subject of two of Klimt's most famous works |
In 1998, the heirs of the Bloch-Bauer family began legal proceedings to have the paintings returned. They were successful after a court ruled the pictures had been seized improperly.
"Since recovering the paintings, my family and I have focused our efforts on arranging exhibitions in Los Angeles and New York in order to share these beautiful works and their powerful story," said the Bloch-Bauer's 90-year-old niece Maria Altmann.
"Our family has now made the decision to part with them.
The four works are Adele Bloch-Bauer II, painted in 1912; Houses in Unterachon Lake Atter, from 1916; Apple Tree I, from either 1911 or 1912; and Birch Forest, painted in 1903.
The works, together with Adele Bloch-Bauer I, are on display at New York's Neue Galerie until 18 September.
One-Minute World News 
News services
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 
In pictures
