ARTFEED — Contemporary Art Intelligence

Klimt's Lady with a Fan Fetches Record £85.3M at Sotheby's London

market-auction · 2026-04-27

On June 27, 2023, Sotheby's London evening auction achieved a remarkable total of £199 million, marking the second-highest figure in its history, following the £222 million from March 2022. The standout piece was Gustav Klimt's "Lady with a Fan," which fetched £85.3 million from a Hong Kong buyer through dealer Patti Wong, establishing a new European auction benchmark. The painting was sold with a hammer price of £74 million, surpassing its £58 million estimate. Additionally, nine artworks surpassed £4 million, including Lucian Freud's "Night Interior" at £9.6 million and Frank Auerbach's "Mornington Crescent" at £5.56 million, a record for the artist. Some pieces, such as those by Edvard Munch and Claude Monet, remained unsold. The "The Now" auction set new records for Arthur Jafa's "Monster" at £140,000 and Michel Majerus's "MoM Block Nr. 57" at £660,000.

Key facts

  • Sotheby's London evening sales on June 27, 2023, totaled £199 million.
  • Gustav Klimt's 'Lady with a Fan' sold for £85.3 million with premium, a European auction record.
  • The painting was bought by a Hong Kong collector represented by Patti Wong.
  • Frank Auerbach's 'Mornington Crescent' set a new artist record at £5.56 million.
  • Saloua Raouda Choucair's 'Poem' set a new artist record at £670,000.
  • Unsold lots included works by Edvard Munch, Toulouse-Lautrec, Claude Monet, Damien Hirst, and Sigmar Polke.
  • The 'The Now' auction featured records for Arthur Jafa and Michel Majerus.
  • The evening was Sotheby's London's second-highest total after March 2022's £222 million.

Entities

Artists

  • Gustav Klimt
  • Lucian Freud
  • Cy Twombly
  • Frank Auerbach
  • Alberto Giacometti
  • René Magritte
  • Jean-Michel Basquiat
  • Lucio Fontana
  • Barbara Hepworth
  • Saloua Raouda Choucair
  • Edvard Munch
  • Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec
  • Frank Dobson
  • Claude Monet
  • Damien Hirst
  • Sigmar Polke
  • Alfred Sisley
  • Arthur Jafa
  • Michel Majerus
  • Mark Bradford
  • George Condo
  • Adrian Ghenie
  • Emily Mae Smith
  • Hilary Pecis
  • Louise Bonnet
  • Mary Weatherford

Institutions

  • Sotheby's
  • Artribune

Locations

  • London
  • United Kingdom
  • Hong Kong
  • Europe

Sources