Klimt Dethrones Warhol and Picasso

Gustav Klimt was crowned 'King' with the strike of a gavel. 'Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer', a rare and captivating work by the Austrian painter, became the most expensive painting ever auctioned on Wednesday morning. Sold for $236.4 million (approximately €205 million), it set a new triple record: for the piece, for its creator, and for the auctioneer, dethroning Warhol and Picasso.

Until that moment, Andy Warhol held the crown in the auction world with 'Shot Sage Blue Marilyn', his portrait of the actress sold for $195 million in 2022. Following him was the Malaga genius with 'Les Femmes d'Alger (Version O)', which fetched $179.4 million in 2015.

The 'Klimt-King' portrait is also the second most expensive artwork in the market overall, trailing only the controversial 'Salvator Mundi' by Leonardo Da Vinci, for which $450 million was reportedly paid in a private transaction. Sotheby's did not disclose any details about the buyer of Klimt's work.

The final gavel struck in the new New York hall of the firm, which was celebrating its second day with all eyes on 'America'. This is the solid gold toilet by Italian Maurizio Cattelan, which sold for a 'modest' $12.1 million (around €11 million). A disappointing figure, just two million above the market price of gold by weight, achieved in a single bid.

The modernist portrait of Elisabeth Lederer was painted by Klimt between 1914 and 1916. It is one of the two full-length portraits by the Austrian painter still in private hands. The dazzling painting was part of the formidable collection of the recently deceased Leonard Lauder, a cosmetics king as heir to an empire, who passed away last June.

Klimt portrayed the young daughter of his patrons' family with a sumptuous Chinese shawl. Confiscated by the Nazis, the painting was recovered by the Lederer family and acquired by the son of businesswoman Estée Lauder in the 1980s. For four decades, it resided in Lauder's luxurious apartment on Fifth Avenue, very close to where it found another owner, the new Sotheby's headquarters in the former Whitney Museum building, the imposing brutalist structure by Marcel Breuer.

The price of Klimt's canvas was expected to reach $150 million. However, its rarity stirred the predatory instincts of major collectors who couldn't hold back. Six collectors vied for the piece, driving its price up in a bidding war that lasted 20 minutes. It quickly surpassed $200 million amid the enthusiasm of the audience, who erupted in applause. The ovation became thunderous as it climbed to the new triple record.

Until now, Klimt's most expensive painting was the legendary portrait 'Lady with Fan' ('Dame mit Fächer'). It was the last he painted before his unexpected death in 1918 and was sold in 2023 for nearly €100 million at Sotheby's in London.