Gustav Klimt portrait sells for $236.4M, sets record for Modern artwork at auction

By Necva Tastan Sevinc

ISTANBUL (AA) - A portrait by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt sold for $236.4 million at Sotheby’s, becoming the second-most expensive artwork ever sold at auction and setting a new record for the artist, Sotheby’s said Tuesday.

Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914) also became the most valuable Modern artwork ever sold at auction, according to artnet.

The painting, estimated at $150 million, was offered during an evening sale featuring more than 20 pieces from Leonard A. Lauder’s estate, following the cosmetics heir’s death in June at age 92. Bidding opened at $130 million and lasted roughly 20 minutes, with increments initially at $2 million and later $5 million.

Lauder acquired the portrait in 1985 from the Serge Sabarsky Gallery. Elisabeth Lederer was the daughter of Serena and August Lederer, among Klimt’s most important patrons. Klimt created three portraits across three generations of the Lederer family; Portrait of Serena Lederer (1899) is held by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, while Elisabeth’s portrait is noted for its softness and the Chinese imperial motifs behind the figure.

The result eclipses Klimt’s previous auction record set in 2023 when Dame mit Facher (Lady with a Fan) sold for £85.3 million ($108.8 million) in London. Higher prices have been recorded in private sales, including the reported $187 million purchase of Wasserschlangen II (Water Serpents II) by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev in 2012 and Oprah Winfrey’s $150 million private sale of Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II in 2016.