This fall, New York will become the stage for one of the most anticipated auctions in recent years. Indeed, Sotheby’s will present the Leonard A. Lauder collection, a body of work that reflects decades of research, selection, and passion by one of America’s best-known collectors and patrons. The event will also coincide with the opening of the auction house’s new global headquarters, housed in the historic Breuer Building on Madison Avenue, a landmark building of the city’s architectural modernity.
The centerpiece of the proposal will come on Nov. 18 with a stand-alone evening sale consisting of 24 lots. At the center of the auction is a painting that alone sums up the splendor of early 20th-century Viennese art: the Portrait of ElisabethLederer (Porträt der Elisabeth Lederer) by Gustav Klimt (Baumgarten, 1862 - Vienna, 1918). The work, which has never before appeared on the market, depicts the daughter of one of the painter’s most important patrons and belongs to the small group of full-length portraits that the artist produced in the period of the so-calledGolden Age. The decorative richness, psychological intensity and refinement of the composition place the painting among the highest expressions of Klimtian portraiture. Alongside the portrait, the collection features two landscapes documenting another key strand of the Austrian artist’s output: views of Lake Attersee, a favorite location during his summer sojourns. Blumenwiese, from 1908, features a compact, luminous surface reminiscent of a floral mosaic. Eight years later, with Waldhag bei Unterach am Attersee, Klimt adopted a broader brushstroke and a lyrical register that testify to the evolution of his pictorial language. These canvases have also never been part of an auction, and their presence adds value and rarity to the overall offering.
The collection is not limited to Austrian painting. Six sculptures by Henri Matisse stand out, offered in an ensemble unprecedented on the market. The presence of the works underscores the diversity of the Lauder collection and the collector’s ability to look beyond disciplines, recognizing in the French master’s sculpture an essential contribution to 20th-century art history. The six works present different moments in Matisse’s plastic research, from his investigation of the female body to the formal stylization that made his style recognizable. The catalog also includes works by Edvard Munch, a Norwegian artist whose expressionist language influenced entire generations. The presence of Munch alongside Klimt highlights the geographical and cultural breadth of the collection, which is capable of embracing different traditions while maintaining a consistency of gaze. Prominent names also include Pablo Picasso, with works that testify to the Spanish artist’s ability to constantly reinvent himself and open new directions for modern art.
An important chapter in the collection concerns Agnes Martin, whose minimal work contrasts with the expressionist intensity of Munch and the decorative force of Klimt, but rather dialogues with them on the level of spiritual quest and tension toward the essential. There is no shortage of contributions by Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. Their ironic and monumental works complete an itinerary that spans several decades and languages, showing how the collection does not stop at the historical avant-garde but also opens up to more recent experiences. First made public by Sotheby’s this fall, the collection highlights the breadth and variety of Leonard A. Lauder’s collecting gaze.
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| A Klimt masterpiece goes up for auction at Sotheby's in New York. It had never been on the market before |
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