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London (dpa) - A long-lost masterpiece by Austrian painter Egon Schiele (1890-1918) was sold for nearly 12 million pounds (21.6 million dollars) at auction at Christie's in London Tuesday.
The 1914 painting "Herbstsonne," which had been missing for more than 60 years, went for 11.7 million pounds, smashing estimates of a six-million-pound selling price.
The price tag makes it the second most expensive Schiele behind the landscape "Krumauer Landschaft," which sold for 12.6 million pounds in 2003.
The almost life-size painting pays homage to the famous images of sunflowers, created by Vincent Van Gogh, and adopted by Schiele as a symbol of hope.
It was the centrepiece of an Impressionist and Modern Art sale at Christie's auction house in London.
The painting by Schiele has a remarkable history after being confiscated by the Nazis during World War II.
It was last seen publicly in Paris in 1937 after being bought from the painter shortly before World War I.
It was acquired by Austrian collector Karl Grunwald, who recognized Schiele's talent and had him appointed as a war artist, saving him from the front line.
When Hitler annexed Austria in 1938, Grunwald fled to France but 50 paintings from his collection were confiscated in Strasbourg.
After his death in 1964, one of his sons worked to locate and recover the paintings, but the "Herbstsonne" eluded him.
It was not until 2005, when an unknowing owner of the painting called in valuers, that the masterpiece came back into the public light.
Copyright 2006 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH
