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Sotheby’s Sets Nov. 18 Sale of Leonard Lauder Collection, Led by Klimt Portrait Tipped Above $150 Million

First-time offerings of three Klimts, including a portrait with documented WWII-era restitution, could reset the artist’s auction record.

The portrait shows Lederer, the daughter of Klimt’s wealthiest patrons, at 20 years old.
Serena Lederer, Elisabeth's mother, in her salon around 1930, standing in front of the painting.
Klimt was not the only artist to depict the young heiress. Egon Schiele, another renowned artist from Vienna, and friend to Klimt, drew her in this striking portrait.
‘Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer’ by Gustav Klimt has never been sold at auction until now. For decades, it was owned by billionaire Leonard A. Lauder.

Overview

  • Sotheby’s will auction more than 50 works from the late Leonard A. Lauder’s collection on Tuesday, Nov. 18, in a sale expected to fetch nearly $500 million.
  • Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer is the top lot with guidance above $150 million and the potential to set a new auction record for the artist.
  • Two Klimt landscapes of Lake Attersee carry estimates of about $80 million and $70 million, bringing the trio’s projected total to at least $300 million.
  • Beyond Klimt, the lineup includes Edvard Munch’s Midsummer Night (est. $20–$30 million), a Van Gogh work on paper (est. $8–$10 million), six Matisse bronzes (about $40 million combined), and pieces by Agnes Martin and Picasso.
  • The Lederer portrait was seized during World War II and returned to the sitter’s brother in 1948, and it was recently back from a long loan to the National Gallery of Canada.