Klimt's Lady with a Fan Sets European Auction Record at Sotheby's London

Gustav Klimt's final painting, Dame mit Fächer (Lady with a Fan), sold for £85.3 million (including fees) at Sotheby's London on June 27, 2023, setting a new European auction record. The bidding war lasted over ten minutes, with four aggressive bidders competing, three of whom were in the saleroom on Bond Street. The winning bid was placed by Patti Wong, founder of Patti Wong & Associates, reportedly on behalf of a client from Hong Kong. The hammer price was £74 million, exceeding the pre-sale estimate of around £65 million. This sale surpasses the previous European record held by Alberto Giacometti's Walking Man (£65 million) and becomes the second-highest price ever paid for a portrait at auction. The painting had last appeared at auction in 1994 at Sotheby's New York, where it sold for $11.6 million, then a record for the artist. The work, created in 1917-1918, is Klimt's last known painting.