Booming stock market is fueling a mega-billion return to classic art

The classics never go out of style. And when it comes to art, the big money is flowing back to that which is tried and true.

After a stagnant few years, dealers are once again celebrating big comebacks from old names, with New York auction houses such as Christie’s, Phillips and Sotheby’s drumming up $2.2 billion in sales this fall.

Leading the haul, Austrian painter Gustav Klimt’s “ Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer ” which snagged a stunning $236.4 million at Sotheby’s. The painting, made between 1914 and 1916, was looted by Nazis and nearly lost in a fire before becoming part of the private art collection of Estée Lauder heir Leonard A. Lauder in 1983. He died this summer, leading to the sale.

Elsewhere, a 1940s self-portrait of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, “El sueño (la cama)” set a