Klimt's Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer Sells for $236M at Sotheby's

On November 18, 2025, Sotheby's New York auctioned Gustav Klimt's 'Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer' from the collection of Leonard Lauder for $236 million, making it the most expensive Klimt ever sold and the second most expensive artwork at auction after Leonardo da Vinci's 'Salvator Mundi' ($450M in 2017). The painting, created between 1914 and 1916, depicts Elisabeth Lederer, daughter of Jewish industrialist August Lederer and his wife Serena Pulitzer. The work survived Nazi looting because it was deemed 'worthless' under racial laws, having been excluded from a 1943 exhibition and stored at the Dorotheum auction house in Vienna. After the war, it was returned to Erich Lederer, who sold it to dealer Serge Sabarsky in 1983. Leonard Lauder acquired it in 1985. The bidding opened at $130 million and lasted 19 minutes, with six collectors competing. The sale surpassed Klimt's previous record of $108 million for 'Woman with a Fan' (2023) and Andy Warhol's 'Shot Sage Blue Marilyn' ($195M). The painting's history includes Elisabeth Lederer's claim that Klimt was her biological father to avoid Nazi persecution, a lie supported by her mother Serena. Elisabeth survived the war in Vienna and died in 1944.