A painting by Gustav Klimt, known for its role in saving its Jewish subject during the Holocaust, was sold at Sotheby’s in New York City for $236.4 million, including fees, setting a new record for modern art. The portrait of Elisabeth Lederer was the highlight of a 20-minute bidding war, making it the most expensive artwork ever sold by the fine art broker. Another notable sale of the night was a fully functional solid gold toilet that fetched $12.1 million.
Painted between 1914 and 1916, the portrait is one of only two full-length portraits by Klimt that are privately owned and survived World War II unscathed. It portrays the daughter of a wealthy Viennese family draped in an emperor’s cloak from East Asia. The painting was spared from destruction when other Klimt works were lost in a fire at an Austrian castle.
The vibrant portrait showcases the opulent lifestyle of the Lederer family before Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938. Despite the Nazis looting the Lederer art collection, the family portraits, including this one, were left behind as they were deemed “too Jewish” to be of value. Elisabeth Lederer, in a bid to protect herself, falsely claimed that Klimt, who passed away in 1918 and was not Jewish, was her father, aided by her former Nazi official brother-in-law.
Previously part of billionaire Leonard A. Lauder’s collection, the painting’s buyer remains undisclosed by Sotheby’s. The sale surpassed the previous record for 20th-century art held by an Andy Warhol portrait of Marilyn Monroe, which sold for $195 million in 2022.
In the same auction, a satirical solid gold toilet titled “America” by artist Maurizio Cattelan was sold for $12.1 million. Weighing 101 kilograms and crafted from 18-karat gold, the piece critiques extreme wealth. Cattelan, known for his provocative art, described the toilet as a commentary on wealth disparity, emphasizing the equality of human experiences regardless of affluence.
This golden toilet, previously owned by an anonymous collector, is not Cattelan’s only creation of its kind. Another similar piece was famously offered to U.S. President Donald Trump by the Guggenheim Museum in 2016. The toilet was later stolen from display at England’s Blenheim Palace, with investigators suspecting it was dismantled and melted down.
Before the auction, “America” was exhibited at Sotheby’s New York headquarters. The sale of these iconic pieces marks a significant moment in the art world’s history.