A 1914 – 1916 portrait by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt has been auctioned in New York for $236.4 million (£180 million) to become the second most valuable work of art ever sold, and the most valuable modern work sold at auction.
The painting is Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer (Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer) dated to 1914-16. It was sold at Sotheby’s on Tuesday night, November 18.
The picture was the star item in a sale from the collection of Leonard Lauder, the heir of the Estee Lauder cosmetics business.
The sale of Mr Lauder’s collection brought in over $600 million before fees, surpassing an estimate of $522.8 million.
The Klimt portrait was expected to realise $150 million and after a 20-minute tussle hammered for $205m before fees, $236.3m with them.
The portrait, in very typical Klimt style, was completed during World War I then stolen by the Nazis before World War II. It is now Klimt’s most valuable work at sale. Image courtesy of Sotheby’s.
A phone bidder won the picture. The price surpasses the $195 million paid in 2022 for Andy Warhol’s work, Sage Shot Blue Marilyn, the previously most valuable work of modern art.
Modern art is usually taken to mean work produced from around the 1880s to the 1970s (subsequent works are called contemporary).
The most valuable painting ever sold is the Salvator Mundi attributed (not without controversy) to Leonardo da Vinci. That realised $405.3 million in 2017.
The most valuable Klimt painting was previously Lady With Fan from 1917. It made £85.3 million in 2023.
On Tuesday night other Klimt works sold included two landscapes, a 1908 work that raised $86 million (with fees), and a 1916 piece that made $68.3 million with fees.
Like many of Klimt’s works, the Lederer portrait was seized from her family by the Nazis. It was bought by Leonard Lauder in the 1980s. Mr Lauder died in June this year.
Gustav Klimt (1862 – 1918) is one of the most important Art Nouveau artists. He is particularly well-known for his portraits of women from Viennese high society.
