Gustav Klimt's "Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer" (1914-16) made auction history tonight at Sotheby's, selling for an astounding $236.4 million after an intense 20-minute bidding war. The sale not only shattered the artist's previous auction record but also became the highest price ever achieved for any work of modern art at auction, instantly securing its place as one of the most valuable portraits of the 20th century and the second most expensive artwork ever sold at public auction.
The dramatic bidding began at $130 million and quickly escalated into a fierce battle between two phone bidders working with Sotheby's specialists David Galperin and Julian Dawes. Art adviser Patti Wong participated in the early rounds of bidding from the salesroom before the competition narrowed to the two phone bidders. The hammer ultimately fell to Dawes' client at $205 million, with the final price of $236.4 million including buyer's fees. As the gavel came down, the packed salesroom erupted in thunderous applause, with Sotheby's owner Patrick Drahi visible grinning near the phone banks.
This record-breaking sale surpassed the previous modern art auction record held by Pablo Picasso's 1955 "Les Femmes d'Alger (Version O)," which sold at Christie's New York in 2015 for $179.4 million. The Klimt sale also represents the most expensive artwork ever sold by Sotheby's in the auction house's history. Helena Newman, Sotheby's worldwide chairman of Impressionist and Modern Art and chairman of European operations, celebrated the historic achievement: "Tonight, we made history at the Breuer. To see Gustav Klimt's exquisite portrait of Elisabeth Lederer set a new auction record for the artist is thrilling in itself; to see it become the most valuable work ever sold at Sotheby's is nothing short of sensational. Klimt is one of those rare artists whose magic is as powerful as it is universal."
The full-length portrait represents one of only two such named Klimt commissions remaining in private hands, making it an exceptionally rare offering in the art market. The painting served as the star lot of the highly anticipated Leonard A. Lauder Collection sale, featuring 55 works valued at more than $400 million. Lauder, the cosmetics heir and renowned collector, acquired the masterpiece in the mid-1980s from dealer Serge Sabarsky, adding it to a collection that also included important Cubist works, which he later donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. All proceeds from the sale will benefit the Lauder trust.
"Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer" is widely regarded as one of Klimt's most intricately conceived late portraits, begun when the Austrian master was at the absolute height of his artistic powers. The work required nearly three years to complete, with Klimt making continuous revisions throughout the process. The painting was originally commissioned by the Lederer family, who served as Klimt's most important patrons during his career. Remarkably, the artwork survived confiscation during the Nazi era and was successfully restituted to the family in 1948 before eventually entering Lauder's distinguished collection.
The painting carried a pre-sale estimate in excess of $150 million and was positioned as the crown jewel of the entire November auction season. Art market experts had anticipated it would challenge or surpass the $108.4 million achieved by Klimt's "Dame mit Fächer" at Sotheby's London in 2023. Tonight's extraordinary result confirms Klimt's position among the select group of early modern painters capable of commanding nine-figure prices, even in today's volatile art market.
For Sotheby's, this record-breaking result represents a significant high-profile victory during a season marked by questions about the depth of demand at the highest levels of the market, ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, and a notably shrinking pool of trophy consignments. The sale also marked the inaugural auction at the house's new headquarters in the refurbished Breuer Building—a space that held special meaning for Lauder, who served as a longtime trustee of the Whitney Museum, which called the Breuer home from 1966 to 2014.
While Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" remains the most expensive work ever sold at auction with its $450 million sale at Christie's in 2017, Klimt's portrait now claims the second position, displacing Picasso's "Women of Algiers." The sale demonstrates the continued strength of the market for exceptional works by master artists, particularly those with impeccable provenance and rarity that makes future availability highly unlikely.
