The last portrait painted by artist Gustav Klimt before his death sold for 85.3 million pounds ($108.4 million) at a London auction.

Sotheby's said the sale of "Lady With A Fan" (Dame Mit Facher) in New Bond Street is a record for Klimt and has become the most valuable work of art sold at auction in Europe.

Helena Newman, auctioneer and chairperson of Sotheby's Europe, said: "Dame Mit Facher (Lady With A Fan) is an absolute testament to Klimt's artistic genius – a work that captured the imagination of everyone who saw it."

"It was an honor to see that high enthusiasm play out here in London tonight and to see the painting so hotly pursued. And it was, of course, the greatest honor to bring down the hammer on a work that has, quite fittingly, made auction history."

The auction house said that after ten minutes of bidding between four art lovers, the work went to a collector from Hong Kong.

In 2010, the auction house sold Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti's bronze sculpture "L'homme Qui Marche I" (Walking Man I) for £65 million in London.

Austrian artist Klimt, also known for "The Kiss" (Der Kuss), died unexpectedly in 1918 at 55.

Klimt started work on "Lady With A Fan" in 1917, by which time he was among the most celebrated portraitists in Europe, receiving commissions at prices far higher than his contemporaries.

The painting was acquired shortly after his death by Viennese industrialist Erwin Boohler, whose family was close friends and patrons of both Klimt and fellow painter Egon Schiele.

It was last sold at Sotheby's in New York in 1994 for 7.8 million pounds – which set a record for the artist then.

His "Birch Forest" artwork fetched £81.6 million last year when it was sold at Christie's.