Sotheby’s has landed one of the biggest consignments announced yet for the November sales in New York: $400 million in art from the collection of Leonard Lauder, who died in July at 92.
The crown jewel of the tranche of artworks is likely to be the crown jewel of the November auctions more broadly: Gustav Klimt‘s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914–16). According to the New York Times, which first reported the news, the painting is expected to more than $150 million and is thought to be one of the few full-length Klimt portraits still held privately.
The Klimt is by far the most expensive work announced for sale at a big auction house this fall. It is about $100 million more expensive than a Mark Rothko abstraction headed from Robert F. Weis and Patricia G. Ross Weis to Christie’s, where it has been given a $50 million estimate.
The Weis collection is expected to generate $180 million for Christie’s, which also secured 20 works from the collection of the late Elaine Wynn, including paintings by Richard Diebenkorn, J. M. W. Turner, and Joan Mitchell that are expected to collectively sell for $75 million.
The Elisabeth Lederer portrait seems poised to shatter Klimt’s auction record, which was set in 2023 by the artist’s painting Dame mit Fächer (Lady with a Fan), from 1917–18, which sold for the equivalent of $108.4 million at Sotheby’s in London.
It is not the only expensive Klimt from Lauder’s holdings headed to Sotheby’s, either. Two landscapes from Klimt—one depicting a meadow and dated 1906, the other showing a forest and dated 1917—will come to auction, too, with estimates of $80 million–$100 million and $70 million–$90 million, respectively.
Beyond the Klimts, the Lauder sale will also include six bronzes by Henri Matisse collectively worth $30 million, a $20 million Edvard Munch painting, and an Agnes Martin painting valued at more than $10 million.
In total, some 55 artworks from Lauder’s holdings will soon be sold by Sotheby’s, whose November sales will inaugurate its new space at a Marcel Breuer–designed building that was once home to the Whitney Museum.
Lauder, who frequently ranked on the ARTnews Top 200 Collectors list prior to his death, himself had a significant connection to the Whitney. He was a trustee at that museum from 1977 to 2011, and was chairman emeritus until his death in June.
The Lauder sale was announced on Monday, just a few days after the Guardian reported that Sotheby’s had lost $248 million. In August, a long-form New Yorker profile of Sotheby’s owner Patrick Drahi suggested behind-the-scenes discord, with one unnamed former executive comparing his leadership to Trump’s. (The Guardian reported that despite rising losses, the auction house shed just 24 employees between 2023 and 2024.)
The losses come amid more widespread uncertainty—and spirited debate—about the state of the art market. But, speaking to the Times, Sotheby’s chief executive seemed confident, saying of the Lauder sale, “I think we’re going to make history with this collection. It will be something talked about for a long time.”
