"A watershed moment for the November auctions arrived tonight at Sotheby's, where Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914-16) sold for $236.4 million after 20 minutes of bidding, eclipsing the artist's previous auction record and instantly becoming one of the most valuable portraits of the 20th century. The bidding started at $130 million, ultimately leading to a battle between two phone bidders speaking with Sotheby's specialists, one with David Galperin and the other with Julian Dawes."
"The hammer came down with Dawes's bidder the winner at a $205 million hammer price (the final price includes fees). (Art adviser Patti Wong was bidding early on, in the room.) After the hammer came down, the salesroom erupted in applause, with Sotheby's owner Patrick Drahi spotted grinning near the phone back. The final tally of $236.4 million is the highest price for any work of modern art ever sold at auction and also set an auction record for the artist."
"The full-length portrait, one of only two such named Klimt commissions left in private hands, led the highly anticipated sale of the Leonard A. Lauder Collection, a 55-work trove valued at more than $400 million. Lauder acquired the painting in the mid-1980s from dealer Serge Sabarsky, adding to a collection that also included Cubist masterpieces, which he would later donate to the Metropolitan Museum of Art."
Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer by Gustav Klimt sold at Sotheby's for $236.4 million after 20 minutes of bidding, surpassing the artist's previous auction record and becoming one of the most valuable 20th-century portraits. Bidding opened at $130 million and culminated in a contest between two phone bidders represented by Sotheby's specialists, with the winning bid placed through Julian Dawes's client. The $205 million hammer price (final including fees) prompted applause in the salesroom. The painting led the Leonard A. Lauder Collection sale, with proceeds directed to the Lauder trust. The work endured Nazi-era confiscation and was restituted in 1948.
Read at ARTnews.com
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