The most expensive painting ever sold at auction remains the Salvator Mundi, attributed to Leonardo da Vinci, which was bought for US$450 million in 2017. NEW YORK: A portrait by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt fetched US$236.4 million in New York on Tuesday (Nov 18), 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