Wed Nov 19 17:26:21 UTC 2025: ## Summary:
A recent auction at Sotheby’s in New York on November 18, 2025, saw Gustav Klimt’s “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer” sell for $236.4 million, becoming the second most expensive artwork ever sold at auction. The sale was part of a larger auction of works from the collection of Leonard Lauder, which totaled $527.5 million. The auction also saw Maurizio Cattelan’s solid gold toilet sell for $12.1 million. Coming up on November 20, 2025, a Frida Kahlo self-portrait is expected to possibly break the record for the most expensive piece of art sold by a female artist.
News Article:
Klimt Portrait Fetches Record Price at New York Auction
New York, NY – November 19, 2025 – Gustav Klimt’s “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer” sold for a staggering $236.4 million at a Sotheby’s auction on Tuesday, becoming the second most expensive artwork ever sold at auction. Six bidders fiercely competed for the painting, which depicts the daughter of Klimt’s patron in a white imperial Chinese dress.
The sale was part of a larger auction featuring 24 lots from the collection of the late Estee Lauder heir, Leonard Lauder, which collectively generated $527.5 million. Other Klimt pieces, “Flowering Meadow” and “Forest Slope at Unterach am Attersee,” also garnered significant prices.
In other news from the auction, Maurizio Cattelan’s solid gold toilet, reminiscent of the one stolen from Blenheim Palace in 2019, sold for $12.1 million to an unnamed American brand.
Looking ahead, art enthusiasts are eagerly anticipating the auction of Frida Kahlo’s “The Dream (The Bed)” on Thursday. The self-portrait is estimated to fetch between $40 and $60 million, potentially breaking the record for the most expensive painting by a female artist, currently held by Georgia O’Keeffe.
First Piper 