This fall in New York, Sotheby’s will offer The Leonard A. Lauder Collection, a once-in-a-generation collection of 20th-century masterpieces that personifies the lifelong connoisseurship of one of the greatest collectors and benefactors of the arts in America. The sale will launch Sotheby’s new global headquarters: the historic Breuer Building on Madison Avenue, a cultural landmark of New York.
The core of the collection will be offered in a standalone 24-lot evening sale on 18 November led by one of the finest and most intricately conceived of the celebrated full-length portraits Klimt created during Vienna’s early 20th century Golden Age. Depicting the young Elisabeth Lederer, the daughter of Klimt’s greatest patrons, the painting has never before appeared at auction.
Complementing the portrait are two signature square-format landscape paintings of Attersee, Klimt’s beloved summer retreat: Blumenwiese, a jewel-like mosaic of wildflowers from 1908, and Waldhang bei Unterach am Attersee of 1916, painted with the broader, lyrical touch of Klimt’s mature style. These works, too, have never been available at auction.
Also unprecedented is the offering of six iconic sculptures by Henri Matisse. Major works by Edvard Munch, Pablo Picasso, Agnes Martin, Claes Oldenberg and Coosje van Bruggen, among others, reveal the full sweep of Mr. Lauder’s peerless eye. This exceptional collection, to be unveiled for the first time at Sotheby’s this fall, shines a new light on the full breadth of Mr. Lauder’s far-ranging connoisseurship.
Porträt der Elisabeth Lederer (Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer) (detail)
Exhibition Information
Bassam Freiha Art Foundation, Al Saadiyat Island - Cultural District - Abu Dhabi - United Arab Emirates
London | 9–16 October | M–F: 9AM–4:30PM, Weekend: 12PM–5PM
34-35 New Bond Street, London W1A 2AA, UK
Hong Kong | 14–15 October | 11AM–7PM
Sotheby's Maison, Hong Kong - LANDMARK CHATER, 8 Connaught Road, Central
Paris | 20-24 October | 10AM–6PM
Galerie Oriental, 85 Rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris, France
New York | Opening 8 November | M–Sat: 10AM–5PM, Sun: 1PM–5PM
945 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10021
Type: lot
GUSTAV KLIMT
Blumenwiese (Blooming Meadow)
Type: lot
GUSTAV KLIMT
Waldabhang im Unterach am Attersee (Forest Slope in Unterach on the Attersee)
Type: lot
EDVARD MUNCH
Sankthansnatt Johannisnacht (Mittsommernacht) (St. John’s Night)…
