Klimt Painting Sells for Record $236.4M
Gustav Klimt's "Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer" fetched an astonishing $236.4 million at Sotheby's New York on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, making it the second most expensive artwork ever sold at auction and the most valuable modern artwork publicly sold. This monumental sale, from the esteemed collection of the late Leonard A. Lauder, also set a new auction record for Klimt, positioning it only behind Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" in the pantheon of art market masterpieces.