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The 10 Most Valuable Lots Sold by Sotheby’s in 2025
Klimt took the top three slots, but Kahlo, Basquiat and Munch were nipping at his heels — presenting the top 10 sales at Sotheby's in 2025.
T his year, Sotheby’s global sales were defined by a remarkable collection of masterpieces that invited intense bidding battles and extraordinary prices. The most notable sale involved a painting by Gustav Klimt. His Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer became the highest-priced artwork sold by Sotheby’s this year and established a new record for modern art at auction, reaching $236.4 million in New York, the second most expensive painting ever sold at auction.
Alongside Klimt, works by Vincent van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and Edvard Munch ensured many of the most popular art periods were represented: from European Modernism and postwar American art to Asian calligraphy and collectible design objects. Below, we look back at the ten pieces that not only commanded high prices but will undoubtedly continue to leave their mark on the art and design world for centuries to come.
1. Gustav Klimt, Bildnis Elisabeth Lederer (Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer)
Klimt’s portrait from 1914-16 was the standout lot of the fall sales at Sotheby’s New York, eventually selling for $236.4 million. The work depicts Elisabeth Lederer, daughter of one of Klimt’s major patrons. Seized by Nazis, the painting survived the war to be restituted to Erich Lederer, Elisabeth’s brother, in 1948. On Tuesday, November 18, 2025, it appeared for the first time at auction as a part of The Leonard A. Lauder Collection. The portrait’s sale doubled the Viennese artist’s $108.8 million auction record and simultaneously became the highest price of any work of modern art ever sold at an auction.
2. Gustav Klimt, Blumenwiese (Blooming Meadow)
Alongside the portrait above, Klimt’s Blumenwiese (Blooming Meadow) was sold for $86.9 million. Inspired by the wildflower meadows near Lake Attersee, Blumenwiese represents Klimt’s freer and more experimental approach to landscape painting. Instead of clearly defining each flower or plant, he covers the canvas with dense patches of color that blend into one another. Bright yellows, greens, whites, and soft violets spread across the surface, creating the impression of a field in full bloom. The sky appears as a narrow band of blue with heavy white clouds, while the trees are suggested through darker green areas rather than detailed forms.
3. Gustav Klimt, Waldabhang bei Unterach am Attersee (Forest Slope in Unterach on the Attersee)
Gustav Klimt’s Waldabhang bei Unterach am Attersee, which was sold for $70.8 million, is one of his most carefully composed landscapes. Painted in 1916 during his final summer spent at Lake Attersee, the work reflects his retreat from Vienna and the modern world. Showing the hillside and both sides of the lake, Klimt removed roads, figures, and other distractions, flattening forms into harmonious patterns of color and line to create an idealized vision of nature. Believed to be his last surviving landscape, it was first owned by Heinrich Böhler and was included in the Lauder’s collection, where it has resided since the early 1970s.
4. Vincent van Gogh, Piles de romans parisiens et roses dans un verre (Romans parisiens)
Piles de romans parisiens et roses dans un verre (Romans parisiens) is one of van Gogh’s most significant Parisian still lifes, painted in late 1887 during his final months in the city. One of nine still lifes of books, and one of only two in private ownership, the painting captures van Gogh’s shift to brighter colors and expressive brushwork. The stacks of popular Parisian novels reflect the artist’s love of books, a passion that he once described “as sacred as the love of Rembrandt” in a letter to his brother, Theo, in 1880. The painting sold this year for $62.7 million and set a record for a still life by the artist.
5. Frida Kahlo, El sueño (La cama)
Frida Kahlo’s El sueño (La cama) (1940) is a striking self-portrait that explores life, death, and struggle. Painted during a difficult year marked by divorce, remarriage, and ongoing health issues, it depicts Kahlo asleep in a wooden bed wrapped in a golden blanket decorated with vines. Above her floats a skeleton crowned with flowers and bound with dynamite, linking mortality with Mexican traditions like Día de los Muertos. The bed becomes both a physical and symbolic space where reality, memory, and imagination meet. Every detail—from the skeleton to the embroidered blanket—reflects objects and experiences from Kahlo’s life. The painting broke the record of $44 million for a woman artist’s work and Kahlo’s previous record of $34.9 million.
6. Jean-Michel Basquiat, Crowns (Peso Neto)
Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Crowns (Peso Neto) (1981), which sold for $48.3 million, is a striking example of his early work which. Painted on Christmas Day shortly after his twenty-first birthday, the piece shows four skull-like heads wearing crowns, a symbol he frequently used to represent power, achievement, and mortality. Scattered letters, numbers, and arrows reflect Basquiat’s visual language, shaped by his SAMO© graffiti and street art experience. The words “PESO NETO” (“net weight”) link art, commerce and identity, highlighting the tension between creativity and the pressures of fame. Created during his transition from street artist to studio painter, Crowns (Peso Neto) acts as self-portrait and artist statement, reflecting Basquiat’s cultural roots and the personal cost of success.
7. Edvard Munch, Sankthansnatt (Midsummer Night)
Midsummer Night, painted in 1902 by Edvard Munch, illustrates a winding road in Åsgårdstrand under the soft glow of midsummer. The village, with its white houses, trees, and waterfront, was a favorite retreat for Munch, who first visited in 1885 and later bought a summer studio there. Unlike "The Scream," this painting feels calm and serene, with a glowing yellow moon set against a pale blue sky. Painted from memory, Midsummer Night demonstrates Munch’s skill with color, composition, and mood, marking an important moment in his artistic development. It sold this year for $35.1 million.
8. Rao Jie, Calligraphy in Cursive Script
In Chinese culture, calligraphy is regarded as the highest form of visual art, renowned for its ability to reveal the spirit and intellect of the writer. Calligraphy in Cursive Script, which sold at Sotheby’s Hong Kong for $32.2 million, was created by Rao Ji, a scholar and calligrapher from Linchuan, Jiangxi. His cursive script was influenced by Kangli Zishan and the “Two Wangs,” as well as Zhang Xu and Huaisu, and helped inspire the later Wu School of calligraphy. This 10 meter-long handscroll reflects years of scholarly training, written in lively strokes that vary in style. In the centuries since its creation, the scroll has been owned by Chinese and Japanese collectors who have worked to preserve Rao Jie’s skill in creating elegant and expressive cursive writing.
9. François-Xavier Lalanne, Hippopotame Bar
The Hippopotame Bar, pièce unique was commissioned by Anne Schlumberger in 1976, and became François-Xavier Lalanne’s first hippopotamus bar and the only one made entirely by hand in copper. As a prototype, it marks a key moment in his artistic development. The bar features a rich, mottled patina of browns, reds, and blacks and showcases Lalanne’s hand-tooled marks. The hippo’s body incorporates playful, functional elements: the head opens to reveal a tray, a rotating wine basin, shelves, a cooler, and hidden storage. The work reflects the Schlumberger family’s long-standing friendship and multigenerational passion for Les Lalanne. Combining whimsy, utility, and monumental sculpture, the enormous piece, which sold for $31.4 million, is a perfect example of Lalanne’s ability to turn animals into interactive art.
10. Amedeo Modigliani, Elvire en buste
In the spring of 1918, as Paris endured heavy bombardments, Amedeo Modigliani traveled to the South of France with his dealer Léopold Zborowski. Seeking calm and distance from the city, he found new inspiration in local residents, especially a young girl named Elvire. She appears in several major works of this period, including Elvire accoudée à la table, Elvire au col blanc, and Nu debout (Elvire). The series culminated in Elvire en Buste, which was sold this year for $31.3 million. Focused on her head and torso, the painting emphasizes flowing lines, elegant posture, and subtle rhythms, while sunlight animates the skin and the pale blue background frames her dark hair. Painted in the final years of Modigliani’s life, this portrait of Elvire captures his distinctive approach to the human figure: elongated forms and simplified features.
