A dusty portrait remained in a private collection for decades; a Vienna gallery later identified it as an 1897 Gustav Klimt painting listed for €15 million

Every so often, an object gathering dust in someone’s home turns out to be worth millions, and that is exactly what happened to one couple who walked into a gallery in Vienna with nothing but a photograph. According to a 2025 Smithsonian Magazine publication, the couple presented the gallery with a photo of their old, dusty painting and claimed it was by Gustav Klimt.

As the piece was very dirty, the young assistant dismissed them. However, the co-owners of the gallery wanted to investigate further. They found the couple in a nearby coffee shop and asked art historian Alfred Weidinger to help. It was determined that the piece was genuine, and the portrait was then displayed at TEFAF Maastricht, Netherlands, in March 2025, carrying an asking price of €15 million, or about $16.4 million.

Who was the man in the frame?


Although the money has grabbed most of the headlines, the man in the painting deserves just as much recognition. This portrait shows Prince William Nii Nortey Dowuona, a leader of the Osu people in what is now Ghana. Klimt painted the portrait in 1897 after visiting the Tiergarten am Schüttel Zoo in Vienna, which occasionally hosted this kind of exhibition.

Klimt and his friend, artist Franz Matsch, attended the exhibition, where they saw the prince and around 120 members of his group. After traveling for 53 days to reach Vienna, the prince and his delegation took part in a Völkerschau, a kind of ethnographic exhibition that became popular in Europe in the 1800s and 1900s. Around 10,000 people visited daily for around six months. Historian Marie Rodet told the Washington Post that people were exploited and treated like objects, rooted in ideas of white superiority. After the exhibition ended, both artists painted the prince; Weidinger believes the piece may have been commissioned by a patron who chose Matsch’s version, which is why Klimt’s portrait remained unsigned.

Why it’s not as expensive as you think

While $16.4 million does seem like a high price for a canvas less than two feet tall, Klimt’s paintings are known for being expensive; his Lady With a Fan sold for over $108 million in 2023. The co-owner of the gallery called the asking price “very reasonable.” The painting’s path to that price tag was anything but simple. After Ernestine Klein, its Jewish owner, fled Vienna following the 1938 Nazi annexation of Austria, she left the portrait in the care of an acquaintance who later settled in Hungary, and the painting was never returned. It stayed in private Hungarian hands for decades, effectively lost to the art world, until it resurfaced in 2023 and was brought to the Vienna gallery. Before putting the piece on display at TEFAF, the current owner reached a private restitution settlement with Klein’s heirs, agreeing to share any proceeds from a future sale.

The twist in the story

Usually, discoveries end there, but this story has taken a twist. The Art Newspaper reported in early 2026 that Hungarian authorities claim the painting was exported improperly. In November 2025, prosecutors in Vienna ordered the painting’s seizure at Hungary’s request, though the gallery says the piece itself was never physically removed, only barred from sale, and it remains at the gallery. The gallery disagrees with Hungary’s claim. As this is a restitution case, the painting should fall under the Washington Principles, which Hungary also signed. The argument is partly about the painting but also partly about the paperwork. As of the most recent reporting, the dispute remains unresolved.

What this says about art, money and memory

The Klimt painting tells a more complicated story than you may expect from finding an old painting. It shows how much can depend on a stamp, a photo, and a first impression. It also shows how valuable a masterpiece can become because of its history. In this case, the history includes a show where the visiting prince and his group were put on display. It is unclear how the ownership dispute will be resolved, but the painting has certainly drawn considerable attention.