Art historians had predicted that a portrait previously owned by a Maine billionaire would sell for $150 million.
They were only $80 million off the mark.
The piece owned by the estate of Leonard Lauder fetched $236.4 million at auction amid “gasps and applause,” CNN reported.
Gustav Klimt painted the portrait of Austrian Elizabeth Lederer over a three-year period, 1914-1916.
Lauder, who died earlier this year, was married to Judy Glickman, his second wife.
Glickman had previously been married to Al Glickman of Cape Elizabeth, where Lauder also later lived part-time.
Widow Glickman and widower Lauder, who along with their previous spouses had been longtime friends, married in 2015.
The Klimt portrait, which triggered a 20-minute bidding war at the November 18 auction, is now the most expensive piece of art Sotheby’s has ever sold.
