US cosmetics mogul pays record art price for Klimt

　　New York cosmetics（化妆品）tycoon Ronald Lauder paid a world record art price for a gold-encrusted（镀金的）portrait, "Adele Bloch-Bauer 1", by Gustav Klimt, according to a lawyer for the seller of the 1907 work.

　　According to The New York Times, Lauder paid 135 million dollars for the portrait of the wife of a Jewish sugar industrialist（实业家）that had for decades been at the centre of a custody（保管、监护）battle after being stolen by the Nazis.

　　Steven Thomas, a lawyer for Maria Altmann, a niece of Bloch-Bauer, would not give the price, citing a confidentiality（机密性）agreement. But he said it was "the most valuable painting ever sold".

　　The previous record price for a painting was 104.1 million dollars for Pablo Picasso's（毕加索）1905 "Boy with a Pipe" in a 2004 auction.

　　Lauder purchased Klimt portrait for his New York art gallery Neue Galerie New York, which focuses on German and Austrian decorative（装饰的）arts.

　　"This is a once-in-a-lifetime（一生仅一次的）acquisition（获得物）, and a defining moment（定位时刻）for the Neue Galerie," said Lauder in a statement.

　　"With this dazzling（耀眼的）painting, Klimt created one of his greatest works of art. We are overjoyed to be able to give Adele Bloch-Bauer a permanent home at the Neue Galerie."

　　Renee Price, director of Neue Galerie New York, said： "This painting is as important to the Neue Galerie as the Mona Lisa is to the Louvre."

　　Note：

　　迄今为止最贵的一幅画以1.35亿美元的高价成交，这幅画是*糖果大亨妻子的肖像画，上面镀了一层黄金。之前最贵的画是毕加索的《拿烟斗的男孩》，以1.04亿美元拍卖。