Gustav Klimt’s painting sold at auction for $236.4 million, shattering its $150 million estimate and setting historical new record highs. Art experts see renewed optimism among collectors as the entire night soared past estimates.

Tuesday evening (18 November 2025) at Sotheby's new headquarters at the Breuer Building, from the collection of the late art collector Leonard Lauder, the bidding for Gustav Klimt Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer (Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer) (1914-1916) started at $130 million.

$236 million painting by Gustav Klimt.
Auctioneer Ollie Barker beginning the auction. Courtesy: Sotheby's

Five phone bidders and one woman seated near the front bid for about 20 minutes. The vibe was cheerful and optimistic as auctioneer Ollie Barker took each bid followed by staring down the competing bidders to encourage their next higher bid.

"$171 million. You took your time, David," he remarked lightheartedly. "Where have you been? Welcome to the party."

The auctioneer made light of the astronomical figure as the bids continued. "198 million, thank you very much indeed. Very decisive. Makes my life a lot easier." When the next bid hit $200 million, the attendees gave a round of applause to the bidders, or the auctioneer, or the artwork.

With the final two bidders remaining, one finally hung up his line. To seal the Klimt painting's fate, Barker added one last quip with a laugh. "That's the sure sign."

Gustav Klimt auction bidder cedes bidding at Sotheby's auction on 18 November 2025

When the hammer came down at $205,000,000, the collectors, dealers, and well-wishers in Sotheby's new auction house erupted in applause.

The final sale after buyer's premium* was $236.4 million, notching it as the new "record for any work of art ever sold at Sotheby's", the highest price for any work of modern art ever sold at auction, and the second most expensive auction hammer price for a work of art.

The reigning titleholder for any auction house, which was originally sold in 1958 for about $120 ($1,300 today), remains Leonardo da Vinci's Salvator Mundi (c. 1499–1510) at $450 million in 2017.

However, the theoretical most expensive painting in existence is without a price but was supposedly insured in 1962 for $100 million which is about $1.1 billion dollars today.

Watch auction for Gustav Klimt Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer painting



Other Notable Auction Sales That Night

Jean-Michel Basquiat Crowns (Peso Neto) (1981) beat its high estimate of $45 million, selling at $48.4 million.

Two Alexander Calder mobiles c. 1953 beat its high estimate of $300,000, selling at $889,000 and $520,000.

Pablo Picasso work on paper Trois personnages (1971) at the high end of its estimate, selling at $1 million.

Henri Matisse bronzes, beat its high estimate of $30 million combined, selling at $49 million.

Edvard Munch Sankthansnatt (Midsummer Night) (1901-1903) sold at its high estimate of $35 million.

Update: Sotheby's following Modern evening auction on Thursday (20 November 2025) again saw hammer prices topple high estimates:

René Magritte, Le Jockey perdu (1942) topped its high estimate, selling at $12.3 million.

Joan Miró Personnages et oiseau devant le soleil (1939) beat its high estimate of $600,000, selling at $2.37 million.

A gold toilet sold for $12.1 million which is about the value of the gold itself.

About the Gustav Klimt Painting

Gustav Klimt, Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914–1916). Courtesy: Sotheby’s New York.

Gustav Klimt Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer (Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer) (1914-1916) is a six-foot-tall painting showing the heiress Elisabeth Lederer, the daughter of August and Serena Lederer, two of Vienna’s most significant patrons of the arts, draped in a shimmering white Chinese robe against a periwinkle backdrop.

The Lederers lost several Klimt paintings, which were burned by retreating German forces during the Nazi era. However, Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer escaped destruction.

This painting is one of only two full-length Klimt portraits still in private hands.

Effect On the Art Market

The sales come during the most important sales week of the year for the art market and ahead of Art Basel and Art Miami in December 2025.

The immense success of this auction will likely add momentum to an art market that has been quieter than usual, in part due to worries about global tariffs and war.

It also signals renewed appetite for early modern masters, expanding momentum beyond the usual post-war giants. In this way, Klimt’s record-setting moment becomes a positive and aggressive market indicator. It confirms that the hunger for extraordinary works of European modernism is not only alive but accelerating.

"We turned the corner," one advisor said.

Hammer down at Sotheby's as Gustav Klimt painting sells for $236 million
Auctioneer Ollie Barker slams the gavel. Courtesy: Sotheby's

Citations

Klimt Kiss by Jeff Koons, after the famous painting by Klimt

Jeff Koons, Klimt Kiss Gazing Ball, 2019