In this year 2025 there were three works by Gustav Klimt which were sold at auction as the most expensive of the year. The portrait of Elizabeth Lederer exceeded the pre-sale estimate of 150 million in evening sales Sotheby’s New York on November 18th. This painting comes from the treasury of the late collector Leonard Lauder, who died in June at the age of 92.
Most of the other top-selling works came from the successful November auctions, including two more Klimts from Lauder’s collection, a Basquiat, and the record-breaking work by Frida KahloThe Dream (The Bed) (1940).
-Gustav Klimt, Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer) (ca. 1914–16)
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Estimate: $150 million.
Final price: $236.3 million.
Where and when: Sotheby’s New York, November 18th.
-Gustav Klimt, Flower Meadow (ca. 1908)
Estimate: More than $80 million.
Final price: $86 million.
Where and when: Sotheby’s New York, November 18th.
-Gustav Klimt, forest slope near Unterach am Attersee (1916)
Estimate: More than $70 million.
Final price: $68.3 million.
Where and when: Sotheby’s New York, November 18th.
-Vincent van Gogh, Piles de romans parisiens et roses dans une verre (Romans of Paris) (1887)
Estimate: No estimate has been published.
Final price: $62.7 million.
Where and when: Sotheby’s New York, November 20th.
-Mark Rothko, No. 31 (Yellow Stripe) (1958)
Estimate: More than $50 million.
Final price: $62.1 million.
Where and when: Christie’s New York, November 17th.
-Frida Kahlo, The Dream (The Bed) (1940)
Estimate: $40 to $60 million.
Final price: $54.6 million.
Where and when: Sotheby’s New York, November 20th.
-Jean-Michel Basquiat, Crowns (Net Weight) (1981)
Estimate: $35 to $45 million.
Final price: $48.3 million.
Where and when: Sotheby’s New York, November 18th.
-Piet Mondrian, Composition with Large Red, Blue-Grey, Yellow, Black and Blue Areas (1922)
Estimate: More than $50 million.
Final price: $47.5 million.
Where and when: Christie’s New York, May 12.
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-Claude Monet, Nymphéas (1907)
Estimate: $40 to $60 million.
Final price: $45.4 million.
Where and when: Christie’s New York, May 17.
-Pablo Picasso, La Lecture (Marie-Thérèse) (1932)
Estimate: $40 million.
Final price: $45.4 million.
Where and when: Christie’s New York, May 17.
*With information from Artnet.
RB CP
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