Overview
- The sale sets a new auction record for Gustav Klimt and places the work behind Salvator Mundi, surpassing Andy Warhol’s Shot Sage Blue Marilyn on the all-time list.
- Painted between 1914 and 1916, the portrait was owned by August and Serena Lederer, seized by the Nazi regime in 1938, and restituted to their son Erich in 1948.
- Leonard A. Lauder bought the painting in New York about forty years ago, and its consignment from his estate followed his death in June, contributing to a sale that realized hundreds of millions.
- Sotheby’s recounts that Serena Lederer signed a document recognizing Klimt as Elisabeth’s father, a move that led authorities to deem her of “Aryan” descent and helped her survive under Nazi rule.
- The result extends a sharp rise in Klimt’s market following the 2023 London sale of Dama con abanico for the equivalent of about $108.4 million.