The new auction record for Gustav Klimt redefines the valuations of modern art and confirms the strength of the market for the great Viennese masters of the early 20th century.
How much did the Klimt from the Leonard Lauder collection achieve
The Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer by Gustav Klimt reached 236.4 million dollars at Sotheby’s in New York on Tuesday evening. The sale sets a new record for the artist, for a modern work at auction, and for any lot ever sold by the house.
The oil on canvas, dated 1914 and estimated at 150 million dollars, was the centerpiece of the evening sale dedicated to Leonard Lauder’s assets.
The great collector and philanthropist, who passed away in June 2025 at the age of 92, had preserved three paintings by Klimt and six bronzes by Henri Matisse, in addition to the famous cubist core donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2013.
What role did the Lauder collection play
The Sotheby’s sale, hosted in the new global headquarters at the Breuer Building on Madison Avenue, featured about twenty works from the Lauder estate.
The building, more compact than the previous location on York Avenue, was packed; the fourth-floor space offered only 200 seats.
How did the bidding unfold in the room?
Auctioneer Oliver Barker opened the bids at 130 million dollars. From there, the price rose steadily, first in increments of 2 million, then 5 million dollars, in a tight sequence that extended the bidding for about 20 minutes.
When the figure approached 170 million, the pace became more cautious. However, the unexpected bid by David Galperin, a member of the Sotheby’s staff, at 171 million reignited the action. “You took your time, David. Where were you? Welcome to the party,” commented Barker.
At that point, a three-way contest ensued. Galperin began challenging colleague Julian Dawes over the phone, another prominent name at the house, and in the room, advisor and former executive Patti Wong, who later withdrew. In total, there were six participants in the competition.
When the 200 million threshold was surpassed, the room reacted with spontaneous applause. Shortly after, Dawes secured the painting with a winning bid of 205 million dollars, to which auction fees were then added.
The financial guarantee on the Klimt auction
Sotheby’s had guaranteed the entire Lauder collection, assuming an overall risk of about 400 million dollars according to market sources. Additionally, in the weeks leading up to the sale, the house sought investors willing to make irrevocable bids on the three Klimts, with a total valuation of 300 million dollars.
That said, until ten hours before the auction, the online catalog showed no symbol indicating the presence of external guarantors for these lots. However, by 9 a.m. on the day of the sale, the graphic signs of third-party bidders appeared next to all the lots, except for six of lower value, thus reducing Sotheby’s direct financial exposure.
The history of the “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer”
Leonard Lauder had purchased the portrait in 1985 from the Serge Sabarsky Gallery in New York for an undisclosed amount, as reported in Sotheby’s provenance. The work depicts the daughter of Klimt’s most important patrons, Serena and August Lederer.
The artist created three portraits dedicated to three generations of women in the family. The Portrait of Serena Lederer (1899) now belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The one of Elisabeth, painted fifteen years later, appears softer and more mysterious, with a refined background that includes imperial Chinese iconography.
Lauder lived with the painting for a long time, regularly lending it to museum exhibitions anonymously. Additionally, in 2000 the work was included in the “Klimt’s Women” exhibition at the Belvedere in Vienna and subsequently in various shows at the Neue Galerie in New York, founded by his brother Ronald Lauder.
More recently, the portrait played a central role in the exhibition “Klimt and the Women of Vienna’s Golden Age, 1900–1918” at the Neue Galerie between 2016 and 2017, where it was displayed alongside the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II (1912), once in the collection of Oprah Winfrey. In 2017 Leonard Lauder also lent it to the National Gallery of Canada, confirming its status as a museum masterpiece.
How does this record compare to previous Klimt auction results
The auction market for Klimt (1862–1918) had reached a previous peak in 2023. In that year, Dame mit Fächer (Lady with a Fan), executed between 1917 and 1918, achieved 85.3 million pounds, equivalent to 108.8 million dollars, at Sotheby’s in London.
However, private transactions have often surpassed public results. In 2012, the 1907 painting Wasserschlangen II (Water Serpents II) was purchased for about 187 million dollars by Russian oligarch Dmitry Rybolovlev, according to market reconstructions. In 2016 Oprah Winfrey privately sold the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II for 150 million dollars.
Both these works, like the portrait of Elisabeth Lederer, have been traced back to collectors in Asia, indicating a growing interest in the region for the early 20th-century Viennese avant-garde. Moreover, this trend helps explain the willingness to support such high valuations at auction.
Overall, the new 236.4 million dollar sale consolidates Klimt’s centrality in the global modern art market. At the same time, it confirms Leonard Lauder’s role as a key figure in the dialogue between private collecting and museum institutions.
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