With record New York sales, the art market is evolving

Remarkable records have been set during this fall auction season in New York. On Wednesday, November 19, Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer sold for $236.4 million (about €220 million), making it the second most expensive artwork ever sold at public auction after the Salvator Mundi attributed to Leonardo da Vinci. The following day, The Dream (The Bed) by Frida Kahlo fetched $54.66 million, the highest price ever paid for a work by a female artist. All of this might lead one to think that the art market’s boom times have returned.

However, context is key: In both cases, these were exceptionally rare works. The Kahlo had not been seen on the market for 45 years, and the Klimt belonged to collector and philanthropist Leonard A. Lauder – a prestigious provenance – for nearly as long. In art world parlance, such works are paradoxically described as “fresh.” There was also a psychological element, as the Klimt sale coincided with the inauguration of Sotheby’s new premises in the Breuer Building on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Originally built for the former Whitney Museum, then used by a branch of the Metropolitan Museum, and later as a temporary home for the Frick Collection during renovations, the Breuer Building is a legendary New York City venue.

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