Serena Lederer

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Gustav Klimt : Portrait of Serena Lederer (1899)

Serena Lederer (Hungarian spelling Szeréna Lederer ), née Pulitzer (born May 20, 1867 in Budapest , Austria-Hungary , † March 27, 1943 in Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary ) was the wife of the industrialist August Lederer , confidante of Gustav Klimt and the driving force Power in building the large Lederer Klimt collection.

Life

The daughter of a wealthy family (the American journalist and publisher Joseph Pulitzer was a relative) was considered a famous beauty in her youth. Throughout her life she had the appearance and airs of a grande dame . On June 5, 1892, she married the industrialist August Lederer, born in 1857, in front of the Pest rabbinate .

The family, from which the three children Elisabeth (1894–1944), Erich (1896–1985), and Friedrich ("Fritz") (1899–1972) arose, resided in Győr , at Bartensteingasse 8 in Vienna and at the Ledererschlössel in Weidlingau . In the Viennese city apartment, which supposedly was not allowed to be photographed at the behest of the landlady, a separate room was dedicated to the Klimt collection. The portrait of Szeréna Lederer from 1899 was the prelude to a close friendly relationship. Following Gustav Klimt's recommendation, Egon Schiele also joined the Lederer house after 1912 and made special friends with Erich Lederer, the older of the family's two sons.

Szeréna Lederer is considered to be the engine behind August Lederer's art purchases. There are Klimt portraits of her mother Charlotte Pulitzer (1833–1920), her daughter Elisabeth (married Bachofen-Echt) and herself. It is difficult to prove to what extent Szeréna Lederer's relationship to Gustav Klimt was intimate. During the time of National Socialism , when proof of “Aryan” ancestors was vital, her daughter Elisabeth achieved Klimt's official recognition as an illegitimate father.

literature

  • Tobias Natter, Gerbert Frodl (ed.): Klimt and the women (exhibition catalog), Dumont Cologne 2000 ISBN 3-8321-7271-8
  • Anne-Marie O'Connor: The Lady in Gold, The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt's Masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer . Alfred A. Knopf, New York, ISBN 0-307-26564-1 , 2012

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Portrait of Charlotte Pulitzer (portrait missing since 1945)
  2. Portrait of the Baroness Elisabeth Bachofen-Echt