Portrait of Serena Lederer from Gustav Klimt An Aftermath printed in 1931

Plate #6/30. The subject of this lovely portrait is of Serena Pulitzer Lederer. She was born in Budapest in 1867 into an affluent and well-educated Jewish family that included American newspaper publisher Joseph Pulitzer. In 1892 Serena married industrialist August Lederer. The couple had a daughter and two sons. They were ardent supporters of Gustav Klimt and devoted a special room in their Vienna apartment to their collection of his work. The 1899 portrait of Serena is said to have been a "prelude to their close emotional relationship." He also painted portraits of her mother, Charlotte Pulitzer, and daughter, Elisabeth (born 1894). According to speculation Klimt may have been Elisabeth's father. There is also the possibility that she claimed to be Klimt's daughter in order to be classified as half-Jewish in an attempt to escape persecution.