A painting by Gustav Klimt, instrumental in saving its Jewish subject during the Holocaust, was sold at a Sotheby’s auction in New York City for a record-breaking $236.4 million US, including fees. The painting, Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer, became the most expensive modern art piece ever sold. Additionally, a fully functional solid gold toilet was auctioned off for $12.1 million, attracting attention as a satirical piece targeting the ultra-rich.
The Klimt portrait is one of only two full-length portraits by the Austrian artist that survived the Second World War and remained in private ownership. Painted over three years between 1914 and 1916, the artwork showcases Elisabeth Lederer, the daughter of a wealthy Viennese family, dressed in an East Asian emperor’s cloak. Remarkably, this painting was kept separate from other Klimt works that were later destroyed in a fire at an Austrian castle.
The portrait captures 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 because they were deemed “too Jewish” to be of value for theft, as per the National Gallery of Canada.
To protect herself, Elisabeth Lederer fabricated a story claiming that Klimt, who was not Jewish and had passed away in 1918, was her father. This fabrication was supported by the fact that Klimt had meticulously worked on her portrait for years. With the assistance of her former brother-in-law, a high-ranking Nazi official, she managed to obtain a document from the Nazis affirming her as Klimt’s descendant.
The painting was part of a collection owned by the late billionaire Leonard A. Lauder, heir to The Estée Lauder Companies. The buyer of the portrait remains undisclosed by Sotheby’s, which surpassed the previous record for the sale of 20th-century art set by an Andy Warhol portrait of Marilyn Monroe in 2022.
At the same auction, a 101-kilogram, 18-karat-gold toilet by Maurizio Cattelan, known for his provocative art, fetched $12.1 million. Titled “America,” this piece is a satirical take on extreme wealth, with Cattelan emphasizing the equality of all individuals in their basic human functions. Sotheby’s described the toilet as a sharp commentary on the intersection of art and commercial value.
The auctioned toilet, previously owned by an unidentified collector, is not the only one created by Cattelan. Another similar piece was exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2016 and had humorously been offered to former U.S. President Donald Trump for temporary use. Subsequently, the toilet was stolen while on display at Blenheim Palace in England, the birthplace of Winston Churchill. The whereabouts of the stolen toilet remain unknown, with investigators speculating that it might have been dismantled and melted down.
Before the auction, “America” was displayed at Sotheby’s New York headquarters, drawing attention for its unique and thought-provoking concept.