Gustav Klimt painting sells for record amount at auction
Iconic Gustav Klimt portrait sparks bidding frenzy before selling for historic sum
- A Gustav Klimt painting, 'The Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer', was sold for $236.4m (£180m) at Sotheby's on Tuesday, 18 November 2025.
- The sale establishes it as the most valuable work of modern art ever sold at auction.
- It also becomes the second most expensive piece of art ever sold overall.
- The painting, created between 1914 and 1916, depicts Elisabeth Lederer, daughter of a prominent Viennese family.
- The artwork was looted by the Nazis during the Second World War and recovered in 1948 after narrowly escaping destruction by fire.