Four of five oil paintings by Gustav Klimt that were the focus of a restitution battle between the Austrian government and the artworks’ Jewish heirs will be heading to Christie's for sale this autumn, the auction house said.

AN oil and gold-encrusted portrait by Gustav Klimt has been purchased for a record-breaking amount by a New York museum.

A masterpiece of 20th-century art looted from its Jewish owners by the Nazis is expected to fetch up to £7m (€10.2m) at a London auction in June.