More than 50 works of art from the collection of late cosmetics billionaire Leonard Lauder will be auctioned off next week by Sotheby’s—including original works by Gustav Klimt, Edvard Munch, Henri Matisse and Vincent van Gogh—in a sale expected to fetch nearly $500 million.
Leonard Lauder arriving at the Met Gala.
PA Images via Getty Images
Key Facts
Three pieces by revered Austrian painter Gustav Klimt that have never before been offered at auction are expected to fetch at least $300 million between them, including “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer,” which will smash the artist’s auction record if it sells for near its estimated value.
Six sculptures by Henri Matisse, who was known primarily as a painter, are included in the collection and are worth at least $40 million together, according to Sotheby’s, including one of his largest-ever pieces, which is expected to sell for between $12 million and $18 million.
Also among the 55 pieces that will be sold are one of Edvard Munch’s “Midsummer Night” paintings, a pen, ink and pencil work by Vincent van Gogh, two Agnes Martin paintings and two pieces by Pablo Picasso.
“Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer” by Gustav Klimt.
Sotheby’s
The Biggest Ticket Items In Leonard Lauder’s Collection
- “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer” by Gustav Klimt — Est. $150 million
- “Blumenwiese” (“Blooming Meadow”) by Gustav Klimt — Est. $80 million
- “Waldabhang bei Unterach am Attersee” (“Forest Slope in Unterach on the Attersee”) by Gustav Klimt — Est. $70 Million
- “Sankthansnatt” (“Midsummer Night”) by Edvard Munch — Est. $20 million to $30 million
- “Figure décorative” by Henri Matisse — Est. $12 million to $18 million
- “The Garden” by Agnes Martin — Est. $10 million to $15 million
- “La Serpentine” by Henri Matisse — Est. $9 million to $12 million
- “Le Semeur dans un champ de blé au soleil couchant” by Vincent van Gogh — Est. $8 million to $10 million
- “Nu couché I” (“Aurore”) by Henri Matisse— Est. $8 million to $10 million
- “Fränzi mit Pfeilbogen” (“Fränzi with Bow and Arrow”) by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner — Est. $2.5 million to $3.5 million
“Sankthansnatt” (“Midsummer Night”) by Edvard Munch.
Sotheby’s
“Le Semeur dans un champ de blé au soleil couchant” by Vincent van Gogh.
Sotheby’s
Key Background
Lauder, for whom the Whitney Museum of American Art named its building in the Meatpacking District of New York City, “is often cited as the example of an old-school collector,” Natasha Degen, chair of art market studies at the Fashion Institute of Technology, told the New York Times. The crown jewel of the collection, “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer,” is one of only two full-length Klimt portraits left in private hands. The painting was looted by the Nazis and nearly destroyed in World War II before it was returned to the Lederer family and later sold to a gallery in New York, from whom Lauder purchased it in the 1980s. It hung in his home until the later years of his life (he died in June). In addition to being a private collector, Lauder was a generous benefactor of the arts and worked with several of New York’s largest museums. His $131 million donation to the Whitney in 2008 was the largest in the museum’s history at the time, and he gave the Metropolitan Museum of Art more than $1 billion worth of art in 2013, spurring the museum to build a now-under-construction wing for modern and contemporary art.
Surprising Fact
Lauder’s brother, Ronald, is also a prominent collector. He’s most famous for buying Klimt’s “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer” for $135 million in 2006, breaking the record for the most expensive painting ever sold.
Forbes Valuation
Ronald and Leonard Lauder were the sole heirs to The Estée Lauder Companies cosmetics fortune founded by their parents. There are four living billionaire members of the Lauder family today, including Ronald, who is worth $4.9 billion according to our most recent estimates, ranking him among the 850 richest people in the world. Leonard Lauder’s only child, William Lauder, who served as CEO of the company for five years, is worth $1.6 billion. Ronald’s children, Jane and Aerin Lauder, are worth $2.2 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively.
Tangent
It’s a tough time to be in the art business. Global art sales dropped 12% in 2024 to an estimated $57.5 billion, according to a report by UBS and Art Basel, with the biggest hit in the high-end market. Despite the decline in sales value, the number of transactions was up 3% last year from the year before, meaning it’s lower-priced art that is selling the most. There were 39% fewer sales above $10 million in 2024 than in the year before, and 2023 saw a 28% decline in that sector from 2022. To secure the Lauder collection, Sotheby’s guaranteed a minimum price to the Lauder estate, the Times reported, meaning the auction house will be responsible for the art that doesn’t sell or doesn’t fetch its expected price. In the spring, an estimated $70 million Giacometti sculpture offered by Sotheby’s failed to sell, per the Times.
What To Watch For
What sells, and for how much. The most prominent paintings in the collection will be sold at auction starting at 6 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Nov. 18.
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