Six bidders bid for 20 minutes at a Sotheby’s auction in New York this week, producing a record-breaking sale of $236.4 million for a six-foot-tall artwork by Gustav Klimt.
The sale made Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer the second-most-expensive artwork ever sold at auction and the most expensive modern artwork sold at auction.
The painting was looted by the Nazis and nearly destroyed in a fire during the Second World War. It was returned to Lederer’s brother Erich in 1948.
In 1983 the artwork was sold and became part of the private collection of Estée Lauder’s heir, Leonard A Lauder. It was displayed in his New York home. Leonard Lauder died in June this year.
Art historian Emily Braun, who worked as Lauder’s art adviser for nearly four decades, said it was the jewel of Lauder’s collection.
Braun added: “He ate lunch whenever he was at home, and lunch would be at a little round table right by the painting.”
Before the auction on Tuesday, it was predicted that the artwork would sell for more than $150 million. The sale surpassed expectations, the sum representing more than 40% of the total value of Lauder’s collection.
The most expensive artwork ever sold at a Sotheby’s auction was Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, which fetched $450.3 million in 2017.
[image: Detail from Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer https://picryl.com/media/gustav-klimt-048-3f280b]