Klimt masterpiece to headline Sotheby’s auction from Leonard Lauder collection
An evening auction titled “Leonard A. Lauder, Collector” will take place in New York on November 18, organized by Sotheby’s. The sale will feature works by Gustav Klimt, Vincent van Gogh, Henri Matisse, and Pablo Picasso, Kazinform News Agency reports.
The highlight of the auction will be Gustav Klimt’s “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer” (Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer) — a large-scale work created between 1914 and 1916. The painting, which belonged to Estée Lauder heir Leonard A. Lauder until his passing in June 2025, is expected to fetch a record price exceeding $150 million, potentially becoming one of the most expensive works by Klimt ever sold at auction.
The auction also includes two of Klimt’s landscapes — “Blumenwiese (Blooming Meadow)” and “Waldabhang bei Unterach am Attersee (Forest Slope in Unterach on the Attersee)” — both listed with the note Estimate Upon Request. Other major lots include Vincent van Gogh’s “Le Semeur dans un champ de blé au soleil couchant” ($8–10 million), Henri Matisse’s “La Serpentine” ($9–12 million), and Edvard Munch’s “Sankthansnatt (Midsummer Night)” ($20–30 million).
The auction will be held at Sotheby’s new flagship building in New York.
Earlier, it was reported that Sotheby’s Paris set a new record for the French art market, when Amedeo Modigliani’s “Elvire, en buste” sold for $31.3 million, becoming the most expensive artwork ever auctioned at Sotheby’s France.