A portrait of a woman by Gustav Klimt sold for $236.4m including fees on Tuesday night, making it the second most expensive artwork ever auctioned and giving a needed boost to a fragile art market.
The sale took place during Sotheby’s first evening auctions in its new Manhattan headquarters, the former Whitney Museum of American Art building designed by Marcel Breuer. The auctions brought in a total of $706m with fees, which is more than double last year’s equivalent auctions and the highest single-night result in Sotheby’s history.
Much of the night’s result came from the 24 works offered from the estate of the late billionaire Leonard Lauder, the Estée Lauder heir who died earlier this year. The sold-out collection alone achieved $456.2m or $527.4m with fees.
[See also: Art market shows signs of recovery after sales slump]
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The standout work was Gustav Klimt’s six-foot portrait of Elisabeth Lederer, painted between 1914 and 1916. The painting drew 19 minutes of bidding from six competitors and far exceeded its $150m estimate.
The sale set a new record for the artist and became the second most expensive artwork ever sold at auction after Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, which fetched $450.3m at Christie’s in 2017.
The sale comes against a gloomy but resilient backdrop for the global art market. According to the 2025 Art Basel and UBS Art Market Report, total sales fell 12 per cent in 2024 to $57.5 billion, the second-largest drop in 15 years, leaving the market more than $10 billion below 2022 levels.
[See also: Big four auction houses scramble amid $10 billion art market slump]
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Despite the decline in overall sales, the report also found that the number of transactions rose by 3 per cent to $40.5m and that private sales are estimated to have grown by 14 per cent. The US retained the largest market share at 43 per cent, while China’s sales dropped 31 per cent to $8.4 billion, pushing it behind the UK.
While high-profile works like the Klimt portrait grab the headlines, the report shows that collectors are still buying in mid and lower-priced segments, indicating that the market remains active even as the most expensive pieces fluctuate in value.
[See also: Why I’m selling a $20 million Rembrandt and giving the proceeds to charity
The Art Basel and UBS Global Collecting 2025 survey also points to early signs of recovery in the global art market. It shows that HNW collectors are increasing their art holdings, allocating an average of 20 per cent of their wealth to art in 2025, up from 15 per cent in 2024. Among UHNW individuals, allocations were even higher at around 28 per cent, showing stronger engagement from the wealthiest buyers.
Yesterday’s auction also saw Maurizio Cattelan’s gold toilet, a 2016 functional sculpture made from 18 karat gold, sell for $12.1m.
As this year’s sales continue to hit remarkable highs, three Old Master and modernist masterpieces have already sold for more than $40m. Another major sale is expected tomorrow, with Frida Kahlo’s dreamscape predicted to fetch $40 to $60m when it goes under the hammer at Sotheby’s.
