A painting by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt sold for $236.4 million in New York on Tuesday (November 18, 2025), becoming the second-most expensive artwork ever sold at auction.
Six bidders fought for 20 minutes over “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer,” which Klimt painted between 1914 and 1916.
The piece depicts the daughter of Klimt’s chief patron wearing a white imperial Chinese dress, standing in front of a blue tapestry with Asian-inspired motifs.
Sotheby’s, which managed the sale, did not disclose the identity of the buyer.
The most expensive painting ever sold at auction is Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi”, which was purchased for $450 million in 2017.
Bidding representatives react after Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi” sold for $450 million at Christie’s in New York on November 15, 2017. Photo Credit: AP
“Full-length society paintings of this impressive scale and from Klimt’s peak period (1912-17) are exceptionally rare; they are rare in most major museum collections,” Sotheby’s said of Tuesday’s (Nov. 18, 2025) sale.
“The painting presented this evening was one of only two such commissioned paintings remaining in private hands,” it said in a statement.
Several other works by Klimt were auctioned at the same event, including “Flowering Meadow” for $86 million and “Forest Slope at Unterach am Ettersee” for $68.3 million – both part of the collection of Estée Lauder Cosmetics heir Leonard Lauder, who died earlier in 2025.
In total, 24 lots from the Lauder collection brought in $527.5 million.
As for Klimt, the previous auction record for a work was held by “Lady with a Fan,” which sold for £85.3 million ($108.8 million) in London in 2023.
In another notable auction on Tuesday (November 18, 2025), Italian provocateur Maurizio Cattelan’s solid gold toiletry sold for $12.1 million, according to Sotheby’s, and it was sold to a well-known American brand.
Maurizio Cattelan’s America, a fully functional toilet made of more than 100 kilograms of solid 18-karat gold, is seen during a preview of the new headquarters of auction house Sotheby’s in Manhattan on November 7, 2025. Photo courtesy: Reuters
An earlier version of the luxury toilet, codenamed “America”, was stolen from a castle in England in 2019.
This file image made from a video on September 16, 2016 shows Solomon R. Shows an 18-carat toilet titled “America” by Maurizio Cattelan in the restroom of the Guggenheim Museum. Thieves have stolen a solid gold toilet from Blenheim Palace, the birthplace of Winston Churchill. Toilet, the work of Italian conceptual artist Maurizio Cattelan, was installed at Blenheim Palace, west of London, just two days after being displayed at New York’s Guggenheim Museum. , Photo Credit: AP
Although it was never recovered – and was likely melted down for cash – three people were convicted in connection with the theft.
On Thursday (November 20, 2025), a self-portrait of Frida Kahlo has a chance to set a record for a female artist when it goes up for sale at Sotheby’s in New York.
Estimated at $40 to $60 million, the 1940 work titled “The Dream (The Bed)” depicts the Mexican painter sleeping on a bed covered with a large skeleton.
A painting by Frida Kahlo titled “El Sueño (La Cama) (The Dream (The Bed))” is displayed at Sotheby’s auction rooms in London on September 19, 2025. Photo Credit: AP
The most expensive painting by a female artist ever sold is a 1932 painting by American Georgia O’Keeffe, which fetched $44.4 million in 2014.
Frida Kahlo’s record is another self-portrait from 1949, “Diego and I”, which sold in New York for $34.4 million.
Visitors look at Frida Kahlo’s painting, titled, “Diego y Yo (Diego and I), on display at Sotheby’s auction house during a press preview in New York on November 5, 2021. | Photo credit: AP
published – November 19, 2025 10:56 PM IST