The investment of the year that just ended wasn’t in real estate, technology, or the stock market. It was made in the art market with a capital investment of $236.4 million. This is the staggering amount invested for Gustav Klimt’s portrait depicting Elisabeth Lederer, which changed hands through Sotheby’s in New York, just before the end of 2025.
This transaction represents the highest sale price for any artwork ever sold through Sotheby’s and the second-highest price ever recorded globally for an artwork. But how coincidental is this investment that sealed the global art market? The answer lies in the past of the Klimt art market and the names that influenced it and – without necessarily planning it – became the most powerful market makers in the Klimt market: The Lauder brothers and popular TV host Oprah Winfrey.
Lauder-Winfrey: the market makers who changed price levels for Klimt artworks
The $236.4 million painting that marked the international art market in 2025 came from the collection of Leonard Lauder of the famous cosmetics giant Estee Lauder, who passed away in June 2025. Together with his brother Ronald, they managed to build one of the richest art portfolios.
About twenty years ago, Klimt’s signature had skyrocketed to the top of the golden top 10 most expensive artworks globally. This happened immediately after the legendary sale of the portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer that he had painted in 1907. The buyer was Ronald Lauder – then president of Estée Lauder. He had paid the very high sum of $135 million, elevating Klimt to the top of the top 10 most expensive artworks worldwide.
Lauder’s catalytic bid permanently changed price levels for Klimt’s works, even managing to surpass in value the giants of the international art market Van Gogh and Picasso, relegating them to second, third and fourth place in the global ranking of top art sales.
At the same time, there was also a strong boost to the value of Klimt’s works from another “front.” The painting featuring the portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer sells for $88 million – a record amount – at a Christie’s auction. The transaction was private and for almost ten years, no one knew the name of the bidder who acquired the work.
A decade later, on the occasion of the joint exhibition of the two Klimt portraits at the Neue Galerie (owned by Ronald Lauder), it was revealed that the second major purchase was made by popular TV host Oprah Winfrey. In 2017, Winfrey decided to sell: Klimt’s work changed hands and a Chinese collector bought it for $150 million, recording a profit as its value increased by 71%.
New headlines were written and international media reported that Winfrey has the “Midas touch.” Those initiated in the art market knew that if Ronald Lauder decided to sell his own Klimt painting – of comparable technique – it would reach at least $230 million!
