A portrait by the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt was sold for $236.4m (£179m) in New York on Tuesday, making it the second most expensive piece ever sold at auction. Six people took part in a 20-minute bidding battle for the Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer which was painted between 1914 and 1916. Auction house Sotheby's has not disclosed the buyer's identity. The portrait was looted by the Nazis and almost destroyed in a fire in World War Two, but was rescued in 1948. The artwork was returned to