"A painting by Gustav Klimt became the second most expensive piece of art ever sold at an auction. Klimt's "Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer" sold on Tuesday after a 20-minute bidding war between six bidders at Sotheby's in New York. Five Klimt pieces from the collection sold at the auction for a total of $392 million, Sotheby's said. The "Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer" fetched $236.4 million alone. Sotheby's did not reveal the identity of the portrait's buyer."
"The portrait painted by Klimt between 1914 and 1916 is known to have helped save the life of its Jewish subject during the Holocaust. The 6-foot-tall (1.8-meter-tall) artwork shows the daughter of Klimt's main patron, a member of one of Vienna's wealthiest families, dressed in Chinese-inspired clothing, standing before a blue tapestry with Asian-inspired motifs. The painting depicts the luxurious life led by the Lederer family before the Nazis took overAustria in 1938."
"Nazis looted the Lederer familiy's art collection, leaving only the family portraits, which were considered "too Jewish" to be worth stealing, according to the National Gallery of Canada, where the painting was previously on loan. It had belonged to billionaire Leonard A. Lauder, the heir to the Estee Lauder cosmetics giant. He died earlier this year at 92. In order to save herself from the Nazis, Elisabeth Lederer told them that Klimt, who was not Jewish and died in 1918, was her father."
Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer sold at Sotheby's in New York after a 20-minute bidding war among six bidders, fetching $236.4 million. Five Klimt works from the same collection brought a total of $392 million. Sotheby's did not disclose the buyer's identity. The portrait, painted between 1914 and 1916, is six feet tall and shows Elisabeth Lederer in Chinese-inspired dress before a blue tapestry with Asian motifs, reflecting the Lederer family's pre-1938 Viennese luxury. Nazis looted much of the family's collection but left family portraits. Elisabeth used the Klimt portrait to persuade Nazis she was non-Jewish; the painting had been owned by Leonard A. Lauder.
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