A painting by Austrian painter Gustav Klimt was sold at auction for a record amount of $236.4 million, or more than $1.2 billion. The painting became the second most expensive work of art ever sold at auction, ranking first among modern art items.
The modern work, titled “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer,” is a painting approximately two meters high, painted between 1914 and 1916. The art shows young Elisabeth, heiress to two patrons who patronized Klimt’s works, wrapped in a china robe.
The piece was sold at Sotheby’s auction in New York on Tuesday night (11/18). Initially, the work was expected to be sold for approximately US$150 million (about R$798 million). However, six bidders fought a 20-minute battle for the picture, which fetched a record price.
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Sotheby’s did not reveal the name of the work’s buyer.
Elizabeth Lederer’s portrait is located behind Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, which sold for US$450.3 million (more than R$2.3 billion) at auction in 2017.
The business has an amazing history
Before it became the most expensive modern work ever sold at auction, Elisabeth Lederer’s painting was looted and nearly destroyed by the Nazis in a fire during World War II.
In 1948, the work was restored by Elisabeth Lederer’s brother. He kept the painting until 1983, two years before his death.
Subsequently, the picture became part of the private art collection of Leonard A. Lauder, heir to Estée Lauder.
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