Auction of cosmetics tycoon Leonard Lauder’s art collection is expected to fetch $500M

Even New York’s jaded art world is in a tizzy about Leonard Lauder’s collection coming on the market next week.

Page Six hears there was a dinner Friday night for the hotly anticipated auction of the cosmetics tycoon’s private art collection, which doubled as an opening party for Sotheby’s new home at the Breuer Building, which once housed the Whitney Museum.

And we’re told the bash was buzzing with the significance of the sale, which includes three Gustav Klimt works. 

“Klimts coming on the market is so rare,” said one partygoer. “This is not a normal situation,” they declared.

They also said that it was especially striking to see Lauder’s pieces in what was the Whitney from 1966 till 2014, which underscored his extraordinary commitment and contributions to New York’s art institutions.

“It’s kind of crazy to be sitting in the old Whitney space with these amazing works FOR SALE!” gushed an insider.

“He was an enormous cultural figure,” said our spy of Lauder. “There’s a real reverence for his legacy.”

The son of Estée Lauder and the CEO of her namesake company until 1999 died in June at 92 years old. He was estimated to be worth some $10 billion at the time of his death, and had one of America’s most important art collections. He left his cubist collection to the Met in 2013.

One of the three Klimt works in the sale, which will be held on Nov. 18, is his “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer,” which is expected to go for more than $150 million.

There are two other works by the Austrian painter, expected to go for about $70 million and $80 million each. It’s the first time any of them have been offered on the open market.

The sale also includes works by Van Gogh and Munch.

The entire collection is expected to rake in nearly half a billion dollars.