A record in the art world. Klimt's painting is the most expensive work sold at auction

A portrait of Elisabeth Lederer painted by Gustav Klimt was sold at auction in New York for a record amount of $236 million, the AP reported on Wednesday. Thanks to the painting, the woman depicted in it survived the Holocaust.

After an auction that lasted just 20 minutes, Klimt's painting became the second most expensive work sold at auction. The leading figure is still held by the painting “Salvator Mundi”, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, sold for $450 million.

The portrait by Klimt that was auctioned at Sotheby's belonged to the family collection of the Lederer family, which had been ordering and buying the painter's works for decades. The collection fell victim to the Nazis, who, after the annexation of Austria by the Third Reich, robbed works of art belonging to Jewish collectors. However, they left Elizabeth's portrait, deeming it “too Jewish.”

Thanks to the painting, the woman avoided deportation to a death camp – she convinced the authorities that she was the illegitimate child of Klimt, who corrected and perfected her portrait for three years.

Other Klimt paintings collected by the Lederers ended up in the Austrian Immendorf castle, where they most likely burned in 1945, when the castle was occupied by the Red Army. It is believed that the fire, probably caused by the explosion of explosives placed earlier by German troops, consumed all the works of art there.

Elisabeth Lederer died in Vienna before the end of the war. Two paintings – her portrait and a portrait of her mother – were tried to be sold in Austria in the late 1940s. The sale was blocked and the works were returned to the family. It has not been announced who the current owner of Klimt's painting is. (PAP)

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