Sotheby’s announced that its annual sale of German, Austrian and Central European Art in London on Wednesday, June 3, 2009 will be headlined by a rare and important re-discovered painting by the Austrian artist Albin Egger-Lienz (1868-1926). Executed between 1909 and 1910, the painting - entitled Die Lebensalter (The Ages of Life) - ranks among the most significant works by Egger-Lienz ever to appear at auction and it comes to the market with exemplary provenance, having recently been discovered in Brazil after descending through the same family collection since 1934. The work is estimated to bring £300,000-400,000 and it will be on public exhibition in Vienna in early May.

The painting is the second of three allegorical compositions that Egger-Lienz produced between 1909 and 1911 which depict the cycle of life – youth, adulthood and old age. The third and final version of the series is a larger (approximately twice the size of Die Lebensalter) and compositional more schematic work, which today hangs in the Österreichische Galerie in Vienna. The whereabouts of the earliest version remains unknown.

Egger-Lienz started work on Die Lebensalter in 1909 and it remained for a period of time in a preliminary, unsigned state. The artist then revisited the painting; he re-worked the left central figure, moved the position of the figure in the upper left corner and signed the work.

Talking about the painting, Claude Piening, Senior Director in 19th Century European Paintings at Sotheby’s, said: “The re-appearance of Egger-Lienz’s Die Lebensalter is an exciting re-discovery and it is sure to excite great interest when it comes up for sale. It is a major allegorical work which is completely fresh to the market and we are thrilled to present it as the cornerstone of our dedicated sale of German, Austrian and Central European Art in June.”

The illegitimate son of the Austrian church artist and photographer Georg Egger (1835-1907) and a peasant girl, the young Albin adopted the name of his father. He studied at the Akademie der Bildenden Künste in Munich between 1884 and 1893. His early works, which were painted in a naturalistic style and influenced by the German artist Franz von Defregger, were inspired by his background and captured scenes of peasant life as well as the Tyrolean freedom battles of 1809 against the French troops of Napoleon. On moving to Vienna in 1899 his style developed and his paintings became characterised by a focus on large, clearly outlined forms and a linear rhythm in the picture surface. His works from this period depict bulky figures which combine to form voluminous masses and appear as silhouettes against the background. They were principally executed in monochrome, earth-coloured tones of brown.