Klimt Portrait with Holocaust History Sells for Record $236.4 Million
A Gustav Klimt portrait, inextricably linked to a remarkable story of survival during the Holocaust, has shattered records for modern art, selling for US$236.4 million (NZ$419.1 million) at Sotheby’s in New York. The sale price marks the highest ever achieved for a modern artwork at auction.
The painting, “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer,” depicts the daughter of one of Vienna’s wealthiest families and was the centerpiece of a sale that also included a solid gold, fully functioning toilet that fetched US$12.1 million (NZ$21.49 million).
A Portrait’s Unexpected Role in Survival
Painted over three years, between 1914 and 1916, the 1.8m tall portrait showcases Lederer adorned in an East Asian emperor’s cloak. It is one of only two full-length portraits by the Austrian artist remaining in private hands, having been preserved separately from other Klimt works lost in a fire at an Austrian castle.
The artwork offers a poignant glimpse into the Lederer family’s opulent lifestyle before the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938. Following the annexation, the Nazis systematically looted the Lederer family’s art collection. However, the family portraits were curiously overlooked, deemed “too Jewish” to possess value by the Nazi regime, according to the National Gallery of Canada, where the painting was previously on loan.
In a desperate attempt to save herself, Elisabeth Lederer fabricated a story claiming that Klimt – who had died in 1918 and was not Jewish – was her father. The artist’s meticulous dedication to her portrait, spanning years, lent credibility to her claim.
With the assistance of a former brother-in-law, a high-ranking Nazi official, Lederer secured a document falsely stating her descent from Klimt. This document allowed her to remain safely in Vienna until her death from illness in 1944.
Lauder Collection and Auction Results
The portrait was formerly part of the collection of Leonard A. Lauder, the billionaire heir to the Estée Lauder cosmetics empire, who passed away earlier this year at the age of 92. Lauder’s collection, valued at over US$400 million (NZ$710 million), has been steadily being dispersed through auctions. Sotheby’s has chosen not to disclose the identity of the new owner.
In total, five Klimt pieces from the Lauder collection sold at the auction, generating a combined US$392 million (NZ$696.2 million). The auction also featured works by Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, and Edvard Munch, contributing to a highly successful evening for Sotheby’s.
A Golden Commode and Commentary on Wealth
Adding a touch of the bizarre to the evening, an 18-karat-gold toilet created by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan also went under the hammer. The 101kg sculpture, titled “America,” is a satirical commentary on extreme wealth. “Whatever you eat, a $200 lunch or a $2 hot dog, the results are the same, toilet-wise,” Cattelan once stated.
The toilet, one of two created in 2016, previously gained notoriety after being offered to then-US President Donald Trump by the Guggenheim Museum in New York. It was later stolen from Blenheim Palace in England, and while two men were convicted in the heist, its current whereabouts remain unknown, with investigators believing it was likely dismantled and melted down. Sotheby’s described the piece as an “incisive commentary on the collision of artistic production and commodity value.”
