A painting by Gustav Klimt that played a role in saving the life of its Jewish subject during the Holocaust was sold at auction for $236.4 million US, setting a new record for a modern art piece. The artwork, titled Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer, was auctioned at Sotheby’s in New York City following a 20-minute bidding war, becoming the most expensive piece ever sold by the fine art broker. Another highlight of the auction was a functional solid gold toilet, which fetched $12.1 million.
The painting by Klimt 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, the portrait depicts Elisabeth Lederer, the daughter of a wealthy Viennese family, draped in an East Asian emperor’s cloak. It was kept separate from other Klimt paintings that were later destroyed in a fire at an Austrian castle.
The vibrant portrait showcases the luxurious lifestyle of the Lederer family before Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938. When the Nazis looted the Lederer art collection, only the family portraits were left behind as they were deemed “too Jewish” to be of value. Elisabeth Lederer, in an effort to protect herself, falsely claimed that Klimt, who was not Jewish and had passed away in 1918, was her father. This fabrication was aided by the fact that the artist had meticulously worked on her portrait for years.
Previously owned by billionaire Leonard A. Lauder, the painting’s buyer remains undisclosed by Sotheby’s. The sale surpassed the previous record set by an Andy Warhol portrait of Marilyn Monroe, which sold for $195 million in 2022.
In the same auction, a fully functional solid gold toilet designed by Maurizio Cattelan, known for his provocative art, sold for $12.1 million US. Weighing 101 kilograms and made of 18-karat gold, the toilet, titled “America,” satirizes extreme wealth. Cattelan’s intention behind the piece was to comment on the equalizing nature of human biological functions regardless of one’s financial status.
Sotheby’s described the toilet as a sharp critique on the intersection of art creation and commercial value. This particular toilet, owned by an anonymous collector, is not the only one created by Cattelan. Another similar piece was famously offered to U.S. President Donald Trump in place of a Van Gogh painting he had requested to borrow. The toilet was previously displayed at New York’s Guggenheim Museum before being stolen while on exhibit at Blenheim Palace in England, the birthplace of Winston Churchill.
The whereabouts of the stolen toilet remain unknown, with speculations that it might have been dismantled and melted down. “America” was showcased at Sotheby’s New York headquarters leading up to the auction.
