Some appetite for trophy works returned, especially in the Impressionist and Modern category, as collectors sought time-tested artists. Six works were knocked down for more than $50 million in 2025, versus just three in 2024. Among last year’s top lots was Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer (1914–16), from the estate of Leonard A. Lauder, which fetched $236.4 million at Sotheby’s. It set a record as the most expensive work of art ever sold by the house and the most expensive Modern artwork sold at auction.
At the Leonard Lauder sale at Sotheby’s. Photo: Alive. Courtesy of Sotheby’s.
