A portrait by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt fetched $236.4 million in New York on Tuesday, becoming the second most expensive artwork ever sold at auction.

Six bidders battled for 20 minutes over the "Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer," which Klimt painted between 1914 and 1916.

The piece depicts the daughter of Klimt's main patron dressed in a white imperial Chinese dress, standing before a blue tapestry with Asian-inspired motifs.

Sotheby's, which managed the sale, did not disclose the identity of the buyer.

The most expensive painting ever sold at auction remains the "Salvator Mundi," attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, which was bought for $450 million in 2017.

"Full-length society portraits of this impressive scale and from Klimt's pinnacle period (1912-17) are exceptionally rare; the ma

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