Klimt Portrait Sells for $236.4 Million at Sotheby's, Second-Highest Price Ever at Auction

Overview

• Sold in New York for $236.4 million, the Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer drew roughly 20 minutes of bidding from six participants.
• Sotheby's said full-length portraits from Klimt's peak period are extremely rare, and the buyer's identity was not disclosed.
• The price ranks behind only the $450 million Salvator Mundi attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, sold in 2017.
• The result eclipses Klimt's previous auction high for Lady with Fan, which brought £85.3 million in London.
• Artprice reports global fine art auction turnover fell 33.5% in 2024 to $9.9 billion, the lowest since 2009.