In November 2022 the 1903 painting Birkenwald ('Birch Forest') broke an auction record for Gustav Klimt when it was sold for $104.6 million at Christie's New York as part of 'The Visionary: The Paul G. Allen Collection' sale.
Related: Discover the Results of Christie's Billion-Dollar Night
This record is now already history. Last night in London, Dame mit Fächer ('Lady with Fan'), Klimt's last portrait, was offered at Sotheby's auction 'Modern and Contemporary Evening Auction'. The estimate had been £80 million. After a ten-minute bidding battle, Lady with Fan went to a Hong Kong buyer with a bid of £74 million. Including fees, the portrait achieved £85,305,800 ($108.5 million).
Related: Gustav Klimt's Last Portrait Could Set an Auction Record
Want news like this delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe to our free newsletter!
Lady with Fan not only set a new auction record for Gustav Klimt, but also became the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction in Europe. The record had been held since 2010 by Alberto Giacometti's sculpture L'Homme qui marche I ('Walking Man'), which was auctioned at Sotheby's in London for £65 million.
Related: The 10 Most Expensive Artworks of 2022
As for the most expensive painting, the European auction record is more recent, with the sale in March 2022 of René Magritte's L'Empire des lumières (1961) ('The Empire of Light'), which fetched £59.4 million.
