Pondering The Value Of A Really Expensive Klimt

“Adele Bloch-Bauer I” (1907), by Gustav Klimt, sold last month for a record $135 million. “Is she worth the money? Not yet. Paintings this special may not come along for sale often, and the hundred and four million dollars spent for a so-so Picasso, “Boy with a Pipe,” two years ago indicated that irrational exuberance could be the booming art market’s new motto. But Lauder’s outlay predicts a level of cost that must either soon become common or be relegated in history as a bid too far. And the identity of the artist gives pause.”