Gustav Klimt Painting Becomes the Second Most Expensive Artwork Ever Sold

Gustav Klimt's "Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer" (1914–16) was sold for $236.4 million USD during Sotheby's first Breuer Building sale, establishing itself as the second most expensive artwork and the most expensive modern artwork ever auctioned.

Sotheby's

Sotheby’s inaugurated its new headquarters at the Breuer Building in New York yesterday night, achieving the biggest single-evening total in the company's history. The sale totaled an impressive $706 million USD, over twice the amount generated in comparable purchases from the previous year, indicating a resurgence in a previously contracting art market.

The sale was led by Gustav Klimt’s six-foot-tall “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer” (1914–16), which, following a 20-minute bidding contest, achieved the distinction of becoming the second most expensive painting and the most costly modern artwork ever sold at auction. The artwork was sold for $236.4 million USD, exceeding its $150 million USD estimate, making it the second most expensive piece behind Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi,” which fetched $450.3 million at Christie’s in 2017.

The six-foot-tall picture depicts Lederer, a young Austrian heiress and daughter of one of Klimt’s supporters, and is considered one of the artist’s most elaborate late portraits. In addition to its compositional genius, the work possesses a significant history, having been restituted following Nazi theft in 1938 and subsequently spared from the fire at Immendorf Castle in 1945, which obliterated other Klimt masterpieces.

Alongside the Lederer portrait, significant sales during the subsequent Now & Contemporary auction included “High Society (1997-8),” which established a new record for British artist Cecily Brown at $9.8 million USD, and the prominent “Crowns (Peso Neto)” (1981) by Jean-Michel Basquiat, showcased in the artist's inaugural New York solo exhibition, which fetched an impressive $48.3 million USD, signifying a remarkable auction debut.

In a striking incident, Maurizio Cattelan's infamous 18-karat gold toilet, "America," was sold for $12.1 million through a single bid, somewhat exceeding the sculpture's intrinsic gold value. Prior to the sale, the sculpture was positioned in a lavatory within the Breuer building, allowing people to view it individually; nevertheless, in contrast to previous exhibits, it was explicitly prohibited from being used. Cattelan characterized the work as “a short circuit between the most mundane object and the most emblematic material of power and desire.” The evening's combination of art-historical significance and unparalleled spectacle instilled confidence in collectors, marking a spectacular inauguration for the house's new location.