Portrait of the Austrian artist Gustav KlemArrived on Tuesday $236.4 million In one Auction in New Yorkto become The second most expensive work of art Not sold at auction.
The most expensive work in auction houses is still it “Salvator Mundi” attributed to Leonardo da VinciIt was acquired for $450 million in 2017.
Six buyers fought for 20 minutes “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer” (1914-1916)Which is estimated at $150 million, which represents Daughter of Klimt’s main patron In a white Chinese empire dress, in front of a blue fabric with Asian motifs.
The colorful painting depicts the luxurious life of the Lederer family before Nazi Germany annexed Austria in 1938. They looted his art collection, except for family photoswhich was deemed “too Jewish” to be stolen, according to the National Gallery of Canada, where the painting was previously on loan.
In an attempt to save herself, Elisabeth Lederer invented that Klimt, who was not Jewish and died in 1918, was her father. This was helped by the fact that the artist spent years meticulously working on his image.
With the help of his former brother-in-law, a senior Nazi official, he convinced them to give him a document stating that he was a descendant of Klimt. This allowed him to remain safely in Vienna until his death from illness in 1944.
The painting was part of the collection of billionaire Leonard Lauder, heir to cosmetics giant The Estée Lauder Companies, who died this year at the age of 92, leaving behind an impressive art collection valued at more than $400 million.
Sotheby’s, which managed the sale, The identity of the buyer was not revealed. The auction surpassed the previous record for a 20th-century work set by Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe, which sold for $195 million in 2022.
Like this painting, the large, full-length pictures painted by the Austrian painter during his most famous period (between 1912 and 1917) They are ‘extremely rare’Sotheby’s explained in a statement. Most are part of large museum collections and a few are owned by private collectors.
Until now, the auction record for a Klimt painting was held by Lady with a Fan (1917-1918), which sold for £85.3 million ($108.8 million) in London in 2023.
The record sale comes as global art auction revenues fell 33.5% in 2024 to $9.9 billion, their lowest level since 2009, according to Artprice’s annual report published in March.
The reason, in addition to the difficult economic context, is the lack of businesses of great value.
With information from AFP and Associated Press
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