Klimt portrait in late Estée Lauder heir’s collection could fetch over $150 million at auction

Two years ago, Gustav Klimt’s final portrait — a vibrant portrait of an unidentified woman with a fan — topped the artist’s auction record when it sold for a staggering $108 million. The Austrian painter’s record is expected to be shattered again by a monumental, six-foot-tall portrait of a young heiress that was looted by the Nazis and nearly destroyed during World War II. Rarely seen for decades, it hung in the home of the Estée Lauder heir Leonard A. Lauder until the last years of his life (he passed away in June).

Next week, “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer” is expected to sell for above $150 million as the top lot in a sale of Lauder’s collection, hosted by Sotheby’s. The collection, which includes two other works by Klimt — both landscapes of Lake Attersee, estimated above $70 and $