Modern art is unique.

In November 2025, Gustav Klimt’s painting “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer” was auctioned at Sotheby’s in New York for 236.4 million US dollars (around 204 million euros). This currently makes it the most expensive work of modern art in the world.*

Further information on this can be found

here (ZDF heute): https://www.zdfheute.de/panorama/klimt-gemaelde-kunstwerk-auktion-sothebys-100.html

here (DIE ZEIT): https://www.zeit.de/kultur/kunst/2025-11/portrait-of-elisabeth-lederer-gustav-klimt-auktion

and here (The Washington Post): https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/2025/11/19/klimt-portrait-sothebys-auction-record/

*It is also the second-most expensive artwork ever sold at auction – only Leonardo da Vinci’s “Salvator Mundi” achieved a higher price in 2017.

Data as of: December 2025.