Gustav Klimt

1862-1918 · Austrian · Symbolism, Art Nouveau, Vienna Secession

Auction record: $236.36M

Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer (Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer), 1916 · Sotheby's, New York · Nov 18, 2025

Source: en.thevalue.com

Biography

Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) co-founded the Vienna Secession in 1897 and became the defining painter of fin-de-siècle Vienna. His golden phase, culminating in The Kiss and the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, fused gold leaf, Byzantine ornament and frank sensuality; he also painted luminous square-format landscapes of the Attersee. His output of paintings is small, many works are in Austrian museums, and several have restitution histories, so top examples reach auction rarely. That scarcity has produced the strongest prices in early modern art: in November 2025 his Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer sold for $236.4 million at Sotheby's New York, a record for any modern work at auction, while drawings provide a much more accessible tier.

Recent auction results

Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer (Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer), 1914-16Sotheby's, New York$236.36MNov 18, 2025en.thevalue.com
Blumenwiese (Blooming Meadow), 1908Sotheby's, New York$86MNov 18, 2025heni.com
Waldabhang bei Unterach am Attersee (Forest Slope in Unterach on the Attersee), 1916Sotheby's, New York$70.8MNov 18, 2025klimt-database.com
Stehend von vorne (Studie für Bildnis Adele Bloch-Bauer), 1903Sotheby's, New York$483KNov 18, 2025heni.com

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