Klimt portrait becomes second most expensive artwork sold at auction

The most expensive painting ever sold at auction remains the Salvator Mundi, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, which was bought for US$450 million in 2017.

“Full-length society portraits of this impressive scale and from Klimt’s pinnacle period (1912-17) are exceptionally rare; the majority in major museum collections,” Sotheby’s said of Tuesday’s sale.

“The painting offered this evening was one of only two such commissioned portraits remaining in private hands,” it added in a statement.

Several other works from Klimt were auctioned at the same event, including Flowering Meadow for US$86 million and Forest Slope at Unterach am Attersee for US$68.3 million – both part of the collection of Estee Lauder cosmetics heir Leonard Lauder, who died earlier this year.

In total, 24 lots from the Lauder collection generated US$527.5 million.

For Klimt, the past auction record for his work was held by Lady with a Fan, which sold for £85.3 million (US$108.8 million) in London in 2023.

Another notable auction on Tuesday saw Italian provocateur Maurizio Cattelan’s solid gold toilet go for US$12.1 million, and was sold to a famous American brand, according to Sotheby’s.

An earlier version of the luxe latrine, titled America, was stolen in 2019 from a castle in England.

Though it was never recovered – and likely was melted down for cash – three men were convicted in connection with the theft.