LINZ, Austria — A long-lost pencil drawing of two reclining women by the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt has resurfaced in a former secretary’s home here, tucked away in a closet.

The secretary, whose name is not being released for legal reasons, worked in Linz’s Neue Galerie (now the Lentos Museum) until 1977. She died in December 2017, leaving details of the artwork’s location. On Jan. 15, the secretary’s lawyer returned the drawing to the City of Linz.

“We were very surprised at this discovery,” said Julius Stieber, the director of culture and education for the City of Linz. “We’d received a letter, but no one expected the drawing to be returned.”

In Austria and Germany, finding missing art is rarely simple. The drawing, along with three works by Klimt’s contemporary Egon Schiele, was part of a long legal battle and an even longer back story.