Gustav Klimt's "Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer" sold at Sotheby's inaugural auction at the Breuer Building in New York City for $236.4 million, the auctioneer announced Tuesday.

Why it matters: The six-foot-tall painting by the Austrian painter is now both the "most valuable" modern artwork and the second-most expensive piece ever to be sold at auction, per a Sotheby's statement.

The big picture: The portrait that Klimt painted between 1914 and 1916 depicts Elisabeth Lederer, the daughter of his patrons in an impereal Chinese Dragon Robe. • It was looted by the Nazis during the Second World War, but Sotheby's noted in a statement that "the canvas narrowly escaped the fate of other works by Klimt in the Lederers' collection, which were likewise seized but ultimately destroyed in a fire a

See Full Page