Klimt masterpiece breaks auction record as art market tests rebound

British-founded multinational corporation Sotheby’s inaugurated its new US headquarters in New York with a night that encapsulated both the spectacle and volatility of today’s art market. The auction house’s first marquee evening sale on November 18 featured two headline-grabbing objects — a notorious gold toilet and a Gustav Klimt portrait that narrowly escaped destruction during World War II — and together they set the tone for a record-breaking, if uneven, night.

The star of the evening was Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer, which triggered a 20-minute bidding contest and ultimately sold for $236.4 million, making it the most expensive work of modern art ever sold at auction and Sotheby’s costliest sale globally., according to a pieace by CNN.

CNN noted the room erupted in “gasps and applause” as the price climbed. The portrait, depicting the young daughter of Klimt’s patrons, had been separated from the artist’s other works ahead of the 1945 fire at Immendorf Castle — a twist of fate that preserved what is now one of the artist’s last available major portraits.

Sotheby’s European chairman Oliver Barker underscored the rarity of the opportunity, calling the work “really one of the last opportunities to acquire a [portrait] of this significance by the artist.” Its price surpassed that of an Andy Warhol record set in 2022 and marked the centerpiece of the collection of Estée Lauder heir Leonard A. Lauder, who died earlier this year.

Across the Lauder sale, most works either matched or exceeded expectations — a signal, CNN suggested, that ultra-high-end demand remains robust. Highlights included an $86 million Klimt landscape and a $35.1 million Edvard Munch. Even the first lot, an Alexander Calder sculpture, soared to nearly triple its estimate at $889,000. By the end of the session, Lauder’s collection had achieved $527.5 million, well beyond its $400 million projection, with more still to come in a separate day sale.

Yet the night also reflected pockets of uncertainty. In the contemporary segment, a monumental $48.3 million Jean-Michel Basquiat led the sale, but two of the top-anticipated works — by Kerry James Marshall and Barkley L. Hendricks — failed to sell, a reminder of the cooling that has affected large portions of the market for more than two years.

The most idiosyncratic lot of the evening — Maurizio Cattelan’s 18-karat gold toilet America — drew just a single bid. The 220-pound sculpture, conceived as a commentary on wealth and value, was offered with a starting bid pegged to the fluctuating price of its raw gold, set at $10 million.

That unconventional pricing strategy was intended, Sotheby’s head of contemporary art David Galperin explained, to “lean into the very essence of the conceptual basis behind the artwork, which is largely to draw attention to the difference between a work’s artistic value, and a work’s inherent material value.”

The lone buyer, described by Sotheby’s as a “famous American brand,” secured it for $12.1 million with fees — a result that, as CNN suggested, likely matched Cattelan’s satirical spirit.

The strong performance arrives as the broader art market faces headwinds. CNN referenced the 2024 Art Market Report by Art Basel and UBS, which found global sales declining for a second year, alongside high-profile gallery closures and an 8% drop in major auction house sales this spring.

Yet recent signs — including Christie’s $690 million 20th-century sale on November 17 and mid-market resilience — have prompted cautious optimism about a possible rebound.

By Sabina Mammadli