A remarkable painting that saved the life of its Jewish subject during the Holocaust has achieved a historic milestone in the art world. Gustav Klimt’s *Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer* has set a new record for modern art, commanding a staggering £180 million ($236.4 million) during a Sotheby’s auction in New York. This unprecedented sale makes it the second most expensive painting ever sold at auction.
Historic Auction Details
The auction took place on a Tuesday and featured an intense 20-minute bidding war. The identity of the anonymous buyer remains undisclosed. This recent sale surpassed the previous record for 20th-century art held by Andy Warhol’s *Shot Sage Blue Marilyn*, which sold for $195 million (£148 million) in 2022.
Previous Auction Records
The title of the most expensive painting remains with Leonardo da Vinci’s *Salvator Mundi*, which fetched an astounding $450 million (£342 million) at Christie’s in 2017. Sotheby’s highlighted the price of Klimt’s portrait as “astonishing,” marking this piece as the most valuable work of modern art sold at auction.
About the Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer
- Artist: Gustav Klimt
- Creation Period: 1914 – 1916
- Dimensions: 1.8 meters (6 feet)
The painting showcases Elisabeth Lederer, a member of a wealthy Viennese family, adorned in an East Asian emperor’s cloak. Klimt completed this colorful work in 1916, reflecting the family’s luxurious lifestyle before the onset of World War II.
Historical Significance
This artwork holds profound historical importance. It was kept safe from destruction in a fire that consumed many of Klimt’s other works. Additionally, it escaped being looted by the Nazis, who targeted the Lederer family collection but deemed the family portraits “too Jewish” to be valuable.
Elisabeth Lederer’s Story
To protect herself during this perilous time, Elisabeth Lederer concocted a story claiming that Klimt, who was not Jewish and passed away in 1918, was her father. She obtained documentation asserting her descent from the artist, enabling her to live safely in Vienna until her death in 1944.
Leonard A. Lauder’s Involvement
The *Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer* was part of billionaire Leonard A. Lauder’s collection. Lauder, an heir to the Estée Lauder cosmetics empire, passed away this year. His collection included five Klimt pieces, which together sold for a total of $392 million (£298 million) at the same auction, featuring works by renowned artists including Vincent van Gogh and Henri Matisse.
Notable Auctions at Sotheby’s
Among the other remarkable sales was an 18-carat gold toilet by Maurizio Cattelan, which sold for approximately $12.1 million (£9.2 million). This fully functioning artwork, known for satirizing wealth, had been stolen from Blenheim Palace in 2019, with the thieves later convicted but the fate of the toilet remains unclear.
