Klimt Portrait Sells for Record $236.4 Million, Becoming Second Most Expensive Artwork Sold at Auction
NEW YORK – Gustav KlimtS portrait of elisabeth Lederer was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in New York for $236.4 million (approximately 78 billion Hungarian forints), establishing a new record for modern paintings sold at auction and making it the second most expensive artwork ever sold in this manner. The sale price exceeded pre-auction estimates of over $150 million, driven by a twenty-minute bidding war between six parties.
Painted between 1914 and 1916, the two-meter-high portrait depicts Elisabeth Lederer, daughter of one of Klimt’s patrons. The painting’s history is marked by its seizure as Nazi loot during World War II and subsequent near-destruction in a fire. Recovered in 1948 by Lederer’s brother,Erich,it remained in his possession until his death in 1983. It later became part of the private collection of Estée lauder’s heir,frequently displayed in his home and on loan to galleries.
The sale surpasses the previous auction record for a Klimt painting, held by lady with a Fan, which sold for $108 million at Sotheby’s. Only Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, which fetched $450.3 million in 2017, remains a more expensive work sold at auction.
(Source: The Guardian)
