Barbra Streisand Reflects on Selling a Gustav Klimt Painting After Artist’s Work Fetches $236 Million

22 November 2025

Hollywood legend Barbra Streisand is publicly expressing regret over a decision she made nearly three decades ago selling a painting by the Austrian master Gustav Klimt just days after another of his works sold for a staggering $236 million at auction. Streisand posted on Instagram that she bought Miss Ria Munk on her Deathbed in 1969 for $17,000, which she then sold in 1998 after shifting her interest to architecture and the Arts & Crafts movement. The timing of that sale, she now says, carries the “lesson” that one should never sell art they truly love.

The context for her reflection is the November 18, 2025 auction at Sotheby’s in New York of Klimt’s Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer, which fetched $236 million and set a new record for the artist and one of the highest public auction prices ever recorded. The painting had a complex provenance it was once looted by the Nazis and then returned to the Lederer family, later entering billionaire collector Leonard A. Lauder’s estate.

In her social-media post, Streisand included a black-and-white photo of herself beside the Klimt painting and wrote that the book her longtime assistant had made listing art she purchased and later sold brought this memory back into sharp relief. She told her followers that she sold the piece because she became interested in the architecture of Frank Lloyd Wright and the Arts & Crafts furniture world but “Oh how I regret selling her,” she said. She concluded with the simple statement: “You should never sell art you love.”

The painting Streisand once owned is not the one that sold for $236 million but her lament draws a connection between what was once part of her collection and the broader surging market for Klimt’s work. Some observers note that what makes the Lederer portrait special is not just its price tag but its survival through war, restitution and decades of private ownership. It underscores how rare works with complex histories often command enormous sums.

For Streisand, the regret seems personal and pointed. The art-market headlines triggered a public moment of introspection: a celebrity who once picked up a masterpiece but whose change of direction meant she relinquished it just in time for it to become one of the most valuable works in the world. In sharing her story, she also enters the broader conversation about the intersection of art, investment and emotional attachment.

Art advisors say that the lesson Streisand pointed to is well understood in the collecting world pieces one emotionally connects with tend to retain more personal value than those bought purely for investment. But her decision in the late 1990s to sell makes for an illustrative case study. At the time, her pivot toward architecture and design felt logical; in retrospect, the value of the art piece she let go has amplified enormously.

The $236 million result for Klimt’s portrait has not only made headlines but also stimulated discussion about the value of modern art, the niche of Austrian Expressionism and the way collectors, estates and auction houses shape the narrative around masterpieces. The Lederer work is a six-foot tall oil painting crafted between 1914 and 1916, depicting Elisabeth Lederer in a Chinese-style robe, and it had not been widely available on the public market prior to this sale.

For Streisand, the affair may feel bittersweet. She remains one of Hollywood’s most accomplished performers and an avid art collector. But the memory of this particular Klimt and the knowledge of what it could have meant to her collection is now tied to one of the most headline-grabbing sales of the year. Her admission becomes part of the cultural phenomenon surrounding the artwork itself: how a piece of art can not only appreciate in financial value but also accrue layers of story, loss and regret.

Ultimately the narrative intersects with more than the price of art. It touches on themes of ownership, legacy and personal connection. For Streisand, the act of posting her reflection was not merely about art speculation it was a moment of authenticity, admitting that change of taste led her away from the painting she once owned. It also speaks to how life choices even in art collecting have consequences that may outlast the initial transaction.

As the art market continues to fluctuate and record sales become more frequent, Streisand’s story stands out because it is less about money and more about love and regret. In a realm where high-stakes collecting often focuses on trends and investment, her message is a reminder of the emotional dimension. “Never sell art you love,” she wrote, and through her voice the lesson echoes far beyond celebrity collecting circles.