Gustav Klimt Portrait Sells for Record $236.4 Million at Sotheby’s Breuer Inauguration

Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer has become the most valuable work ever sold in Sotheby’s history, fetching $236.4 million during the auction house’s inaugural evening sale at the Breuer Building in New York. The transaction marks a significant recalibration of the artist’s market, more than doubling the previous auction record for a Klimt and establishing the painting as the second most expensive artwork ever sold at auction.

The work served as the centerpiece of the Leonard A. Lauder Collection. The final price was achieved following a prolonged twenty-minute bidding engagement involving no fewer than six distinct collectors. Ultimately, the lot was secured by Julian Dawes, Sotheby’s Vice Chairman and Head of Impressionist and Modern Art, who was bidding by telephone on behalf of a client.

Historical Significance and Provenance

Painted during Klimt’s mature period between 1912 and 1917, the full-length portrait depicts Elisabeth Franziska Lederer. Works of this scale and finish are exceptionally rare outside of institutional holdings; prior to this sale, the canvas was identified as one of only two such commissioned portraits remaining in private hands.

The provenance carries significant historical weight regarding the Vienna Secession movement. Elisabeth was the daughter of industrialist August Lederer and Serena Lederer, widely regarded as Klimt’s most important patrons. The family offered crucial financial and social support to the artist following his disputes with the Viennese artistic establishment, eventually amassing the most significant collection of his work. Elisabeth, who affectionately addressed the artist as “Uncle,” recalled a laborious three-year creation process, noting the artist’s characteristic perfectionism and vocal dissatisfaction during the sittings.

The Lauder Legacy

The sale also highlights the curatorial eye of Leonard A. Lauder. A pivotal figure in the American cultural landscape for over fifty years, Lauder is best known for assembling the world’s definitive private collection of Cubist art—ninety seminal works of which were gifted to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. His philanthropic footprint extends significantly to the Whitney Museum of American Art, where his historic financial contributions facilitated the institution’s relocation to its downtown premises. Lauder’s collecting history dates back to 1966, beginning with the acquisition of a Kurt Schwitters collage at Sotheby’s Parke Bernet.

Market Context

The sale of the Lederer portrait anchored an evening of robust results for the Lauder collection, with reports indicating that nearly all lots performed above pre-sale expectations. The auction catalog included major compositions by Edvard Munch, Henri Matisse, Vincent van Gogh, and Agnes Martin.

The evening’s proceedings were scheduled to conclude with a separate “Now & Contemporary” auction. Notable among the later lots is Maurizio Cattelan’s America, a fully functioning toilet cast in 18-karat gold. The bidding for the conceptual piece was set to open at a price reflective of the raw value of the work’s weight in gold at the close of the market.