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Record at auction: Gustav Klimt portrait reaches 236.4 million and is crowned as the second most expensive work in history
The elegant young woman, draped in a Chinese-inspired robe, stands against a backdrop of soldiers, courtiers, and celestial symbols. Today, Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer is considered one of the most valuable modern works ever sold at auction.
A Gustav Klimt painting has sold for a record $236.4 million, becoming the second most expensive painting ever sold at auction and the most expensive work of modern art ever sold at auction. The nearly two-meter-tall portrait, titled Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer , was painted by the Austrian artist between 1914 and 1916. The work depicts Lederer, a young heiress and daughter of one of Klimt's patrons.
Six bidders competed for 20 minutes in the Sotheby's auction held Tuesday night in New York. The auction house did not reveal the identity of the winning bidder. The intense bidding drove the painting well above its $150 million estimate, with two bidders battling it out by phone through their auction agents in the final minutes.
The Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer was looted by the Nazis and nearly destroyed in a fire during World War II. However, in 1948 it was returned to Erich Lederer, Elisabeth's brother and a frequent model for drawings and paintings by Klimt's friend and fellow artist, Egon Schiele. The work remained in Erich's possession for most of his life, until he sold it in 1983, two years before his death.
For the past four decades, the work has been part of Lauder's collection. Klimt, a central figure of the Austrian modernist movement, is perhaps best known for his iconic painting The Kiss . Other works by him have also fetched millions: in 2023, the portrait Lady With a Fan sold for $108.4 million, setting the record at the time for the most expensive work of art ever auctioned in Europe.
