A painting by Gustav Klimt, which played a role in saving its Jewish subject during the Holocaust, was sold for $236.4 million US at Sotheby’s in New York. This sale set a new record for a modern art piece. The portrait, titled Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer, was the highlight of a 20-minute bidding war and also became the most expensive artwork ever sold by the fine art broker globally. Another notable item auctioned that evening was a fully functioning solid gold toilet, which fetched $12.1 million.
The Klimt painting is one of only two full-length portraits by the Austrian artist that are privately owned and survived World War II intact. Painted between 1914 and 1916, it features Elisabeth Lederer, the daughter of one of Vienna’s wealthiest families, draped in an East Asian emperor’s cloak. The painting was safeguarded from a fire that destroyed other Klimt artworks in an Austrian castle.
The vibrant portrait showcases the opulent lifestyle of the Lederer family before Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938. Elisabeth Lederer, in an attempt to protect herself, falsely claimed that Klimt, who was not Jewish and had passed away in 1918, was her father. This fabrication, supported by the meticulous work Klimt put into her portrait, helped her obtain a document from the Nazis stating her fictitious lineage.
Previously owned by billionaire Leonard A. Lauder, heir to The Estée Lauder Companies, the painting’s buyer at the auction remains undisclosed. This sale surpassed the previous record set by an Andy Warhol portrait of Marilyn Monroe, which sold for $195 million in 2022.
In a separate auction at Sotheby’s, a fully functional solid gold toilet named “America” by Maurizio Cattelan, a provocative Italian artist known for his unconventional pieces, sold for $12.1 million. Weighing 101 kilograms and crafted from 18-karat gold, the toilet satirizes extreme wealth. Cattelan described the piece as a commentary on the equalizing nature of human bodily functions regardless of one’s financial status.
Sotheby’s characterized the toilet as a sharp critique on the intersection of art production and commercial value. This particular toilet was not Cattelan’s only creation of its kind, with another one famously displayed at the Guggenheim Museum in 2016. The piece was later stolen while exhibited at Blenheim Palace in England, the birthplace of Winston Churchill. The fate of the stolen toilet remains unknown, with speculation that it may have been dismantled and melted down.
Before the auction, “America” was exhibited at Sotheby’s New York headquarters, drawing attention for its unique artistic statement.