$236M for Klimt and $12M for a Toilet: Art Market Polarization at Sotheby's Record Auctions

👑 History Rewrites the Record: Klimt's Triumph

Gustav Klimt's "Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer" (1914), after a twenty-minute bidding war among six bidders, became the second-most expensive work of art ever, the most valuable modern work. With the $236.36 million it cost, Sotheby's New York sale on November 18th made art market history, and more importantly, its own.

The painting, which portrays the young daughter of Serena Lederer, one of the artist's most important patrons, is the highest ever achieved by the house. Never before seen on the open market, the painting was estimated at over $150 million. Its sale marks a memorable debut for the auction house, which is hosting its first auction in its new location, the Breuer Building, formerly home to the Whitney Museum.

Refined in its facial rendering and sumptuous in its ornamentation, the portrait embodies the quintessence of Viennese modernism in which youth, beauty and symbolism blend in a work of extraordinary visual impact.

The painting achieved a resounding result, doubling the €104.5 million sold for "Birch Forest," which Sotheby's London sold for in 2022 and set a previous record for the painter. Inevitably, the portrait achieved the highest result of the entire year 2025.

Klimt's work surpasses the $195 million of Andy Warhol's "Shot Sage Blue Marilyn," cementing its second-place position at auction (Leonardo da Vinci's "Salvator Mundi" remains unrivaled at $450.3 million).

The Leonard A. Lauder Collection immediately seemed capable of rekindling the enthusiasm of buyers and enthusiasts, thanks also to the other two Klimt masterpieces sold on the same evening: «Blumenwiese» ($86 million) and «Waldhag bei Unterach am Attersee» ($68.3 million).

🚽 Satire and Real Value: Cattelan's Golden Toilet

The conceptual intent of "America" ​​(2016), one of Maurizio Cattelan's (b. 1960) most iconic works, has added a new chapter to its story at auction at Sotheby's, suspended between playfulness and provocation. And, of course, irony.

Presented with an estimate proportionate to the work's gold weight—$10 million for 101.2 kg—it sold on November 18 for $12.1 million. This was slightly more than its actual value, achieved solely through commissions. The net hammer price, all things considered, exactly matches the initial estimate of $10 million.

It's funny, in a way, that in a market where value is inherently uncertain, this work was sold for exactly what it's worth. Or rather, for what gold is worth.

Since its debut at the Guggenheim in New York in 2016, the work has sparked an interesting dialogue with the public, who have been encouraged to use it and thus question it about the meaning of art and luxury. Cattelan himself quipped: "I had hoped it would be a performance... but I'm afraid not." » .

Dialogue with History: From Duchamp to Manzoni

Cattelan's gesture is an inversion of Duchamp's ready-made: it is not a banal object elevated to the level of art, but rather an ennobled object - a golden toilet - that returns to its everyday function.

This thematic sphere also echoes Manzoni's lesson in "Artist's Shit" (1961), an example of extreme irony regarding the value of the work. The title "America" ​​is a scathing social commentary, becoming a symbol of an opulent nation, of its dream derailed by extreme luxury and social inequality.

                                            

The Lesson of Auctions 2025

Sotheby's recent auctions show us a lively but deeply divided market, polarized between:

• The Consolidation (Klimt): Historical art that confirms the unassailable value of the Masters as safe havens.

• Viral Provocation (Cattelan): Conceptual art that sells ideas and social satire, where economic value is driven by discussion and intellectual marketing.

Both, in their own way, have written market history, demonstrating that, in an uncertain economic year, money is not lacking... as long as you offer the right work.