Gustav Klimt “Golden Adele. Gustav Klimt "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I"

Gustav Klimt. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, 1907.

This story involves: Gustav Klimt, femme fatale Adele Bloch-Bauer, a painting worth $135 million, niece Maria Altman, the US and Austrian governments.

ABOUT THE MODEL AND ARTIST

Let's get to know Adele Bloch-Bauer better.

Adele's father, Moritz Bauer, a major banker, Chairman of the Austrian Bankers Association, had been looking for worthy grooms for his daughters for a long time, and chose the brothers Ferdinand and Gustav Bloch, who were engaged in sugar production and had several enterprises whose shares were constantly growing.

Adele Bauer in 1899, being 18 years old, married the much older Ferdinand Bloch. Before this, her sister Maria married Ferdinand Bloch's brother Gustav. Both families took the surname Bloch-Bauer.

Maria Altmann, niece and heiress of Adele Bloch-Bauer, described her aunt as follows: “Constantly suffering from headaches, smoking like a steam locomotive, terribly tender and languid. A spiritual face, self-satisfied and elegant.” The family of Ferdinand and Adele belonged to a select layer of the large Jewish bourgeoisie of that period.

Their salon brought together painters, writers and such famous social democrats as Karl Renner and Julius Tandler. The number of artists supported by the Bloch-Bauer family included Gustav Klimt.
Their friendship began in 1899. Adele Bloch-Bauer became a model for Gustav Klimt’s paintings four times and had no idea that in addition to worldwide fame, her name would also be involved in a scandal.

Already in 1901, Klimt painted “Judith I,” for which Adele Bloch-Bauer herself served as a model, although this fact was not advertised anywhere. Eight years later, Klimt painted Judith II. Both paintings are embodiments of Klimt's femme fatale. His Judith is not a biblical heroine, but rather a resident of Vienna, his contemporary, as evidenced by her fashionable, possibly expensive necklace.

The painting “Judith II” is often called “Salome” in catalogs and magazines. Art critics were sure that Klimt had in mind Salome, a typical femme fatale, about whom, at the end of the century, books and paintings by Gustave Moreau, Oscar Wilde, Aubrey Beardsley, Franz von Stuck and Max Klinger were published.

Klimt’s friend Alfred Bass wrote in his diary: “When I saw Gustav’s Salome, I realized that all the women I had known until now were not real. When I saw his “Kiss”, I realized that I had never truly loved. When I saw the sketch for “Judith,” I realized the worst thing was that I had not lived at all, and if I had lived, it was a fake life.”

INTERESTING VERSION

They say that the husband knew about the connection between his wife Adele and Gustav Klimt and when signing the contract for a new picture set several conditions, including
so that the artist would draw 100 sketches. Ferdinand hoped that Adele would tire of Klimt after posing for such a long time. Whether it was true or not, he turned out to be right.

In 1903, Klimt received an order from Ferdinand Bloch for an official portrait of his wife. Over the next four years, the artist created more than 100 sketches for the painting, before in 1907 he was able to present to the public his “Golden Adele”, in which the model was 26 years old. The artist came up with the idea for the painting immediately, but it took a hundred sketches to accurately determine the position hands and head. This portrait, often called the "Austrian Mona Lisa", is considered one of Klimt's most significant paintings.

LET'S TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT GOLDEN ADELE

An elegant female figure sits in a chair. There is no free space above and below it; it occupies the entire vertical of the picture. The head image appears to be cut off at the top. Black, pulled-up hair and a disproportionately large red mouth contrast with extremely pale, almost blue-white skin.

The woman holds her hands clasped in a dynamic bend in front of her chest and looks directly at the viewer, thereby enhancing the visual impact. A shawl is thrown over the figure-hugging dress. It flows, expanding from the hands to the lower edge of the picture. Gold tones predominate here too. The neckline of the dress is decorated with a thin border of rectangles and a wide stripe with double row triangles.

Then a pattern of randomly arranged stylized eyes inscribed in triangles was used. The cape, with its pattern of spirals, leaf shapes, and barely defined folds, seems a little lighter than the dress.

They say that Klimt painted his portraits from nude models, and only then covered the bodies with flat ornamental clothes. Perhaps so, but what the Puritan public called “depravity” literally oozes from this canvas. But at the same time, the artist accurately depicted a young woman tired of her own respectability, of rich life, which has turned into a golden cage and wants to break free.

Only the face, shoulders and arms were depicted naturalistically. The interior, along with the flowing dress and furniture, are only indicated and, turning into ornament, become abstract, which corresponded to the color scheme and forms that Klimt used at the turn of the century.
The chair, also gold, stands out against the general background only thanks to the pattern of spirals - there are completely no shadows, halftones or contours on it. A small light green fragment of the floor adds a color accent to the overall scheme and helps give stability to the figure.
In 1912, the artist painted another portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer.

THE FATE OF THE PICTURE

Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer acquired, in addition to the first “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” and the second, “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II”, as well as four more landscapes: “ Birch Grove", "Cammer Castle on Lake Attersee III" "Apple Tree I", "Houses in Unterach am Attersee".

The finished “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” was immediately exhibited in the artist’s studio in Vienna in 1907 and appeared in the magazine “ German art and decoration”, and then at the international art exhibition in Mannheim.

In 1910, the portrait was in the Klimt Hall as part of the IX International Exhibition in Venice. Until 1918, the portrait was not exhibited and was in the possession of Ferdinand and Adele Bloch-Bauer. From 1918 to 1921 - in Austrian state gallery.

Adele Bloch-Bauer died on January 24, 1925, leaving a will in which she asked her husband, after his death, to transfer two of her portraits and four landscapes by Gustav Klimt to the Austrian State Gallery. But he did not do this, transferring only one landscape to the Austrian gallery.

During the war, Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer fled first to Czechoslovakia and then to Switzerland. The paintings, along with most of his fortune, remained in Austria. His fortune and collection of paintings were expropriated by the Nazis. In 1941, an Austrian gallery bought Klimt’s paintings “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” and “Apple Tree I”

Adolf Hitler had a positive attitude towards the work of Gustav Klimt. They met Klimt when Hitler was trying to enter the Academy of Painting in Vienna. At that time, Klimt was already an honorary professor at this academy. At that time, Hitler made his living by drawing small pictures of views of Vienna and selling them to tourists in restaurants and taverns.

Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer died on November 13, 1945 in Zurich. Before his death, he canceled in his will the donation of paintings to Austrian museums. Since Ferdinand and Adele had no children, Ferdinand appointed his brother's children as heirs - Maria Altmann, Louise Gutmann and Robert Bentley. Shortly before his death, he hired Viennese lawyer Rinesh to protect the interests of the heirs.

In 1946, Austria declared everything legal acts, created by the Nazis, invalid. However, when returning art treasures confiscated by the Nazis to their owners, Austria applied the tactic of voluntary-forced transfer of them to museums to the owners artistic masterpieces in exchange for permission to remove the bulk of their collections from the country.

The same thing happened with five paintings by Klimt: they remained in the Austrian gallery - in exchange for the fact that the heirs of the Bloch-Bauers had the opportunity to take out the main part of the collection. It would seem that history could be put to an end, but in 1998 Austria adopted the Law on Art Restitution, which required the return of works of art looted by the Nazis and allowed any citizen to request information from museums about how works of art came into their holdings.

In the same year, an Austrian journalist, working in the archives, discovered documents in which the transfer of Klimt's paintings to the Austrian Belvedere Gallery was falsified. If you remember, Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer gave the gallery only one landscape in 1936.

A series of articles on this topic followed, and the only living heir of the Bloch-Bauers, US citizen Maria Altman, learned about this and went to court. In February 2006, the famous “ Golden Adele“And four more paintings by Klimt after the trial “Maria Altman against the Republic of Austria”, by decision of an international court, became the personal property of 79-year-old Maria Altman, who had lived in Los Angeles since 1942.

At the same time, the Austrian government declared its desire to preserve Klimt’s works in the country. Austria took measures unprecedented in the history of the state to save the national property: negotiations were held with banks about a loan to purchase paintings, the country's government turned to the population with a request for help, intending to issue “Klimt bonds.”

The public announced a fundraising subscription, and donations began to come not only from Austrians. However, the price of 150 million dollars, requested by Maria Altman, within a month soared to 245, and then to 300 million. After such “greedy behavior” of the heiress, Austria refused the right of first refusal to purchase paintings, and five Klimt paintings were transported to Los Angeles.

Maria Altmann had a rare chance to go down in Austrian history by showing nobility and leaving Klimt's paintings in his homeland. Of course, not for free, because the initial estimate of 150 million dollars was considered in Austria as fair compensation. However, the subsequent doubling of the price and Altman’s intransigence, of course, did not increase sympathy for this elderly woman in the artist’s homeland.

In addition, the will of Adele Bloch-Bauer herself was actually violated, who wished to transfer the paintings to the Austrian gallery. Paradoxically, the Nazi regime seemed to fulfill Adele’s will by transferring Klimt’s paintings to the gallery. It should be noted that portraits of Adele, despite the rampant anti-Semitism in Austria at that time, were exhibited in the museum during the Nazi era.

At the beginning of February 2006, more than four thousand Austrians and guests of Vienna came to the Belvedere Gallery to last time see five paintings by Klimt that have passed into private hands. "Golden Adele" was business card Vienna's Belvedere Gallery, she long years was placed on the covers of catalogs and albums about the museum.

On February 14, 2006, the paintings flew overseas, and on June 19, newspapers reported that “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” was purchased by Ronald Lauder for $135 million and placed in his New Gallery in New York. Now “Golden Adele” can be admired by residents and guests of New York, while everyone else can see famous painting Klimt on souvenirs.
In addition to two portraits of Adele, three landscapes were also given.

On February 7, 2011, Maria Altmann passed away, but her heirs, even with their great desire, could not donate Klimt’s paintings to the Austrian Belvedere Gallery, since all of them had already been sold to private individuals.

Here you can see the text with illustrations. http://maxpark.com/community/6782/content/3200699

The history of the painting, known throughout the world as “Golden Adele” or “Austrian Mona Lisa,” can be called a detective story. The reason for its creation was the husband's revenge for his wife's love affair with the artist Gustav Klimt, the painting remained undamaged during the Second World War, and in the post-war period "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer" became the subject of contention between Austria and the United States.

Adele Bloch-Bauer

In 1904, sugar refiner Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer learned of his wife’s infidelity. All of Vienna was talking about the romance between Adele and the artist Gustav Klimt. He found in love affairs an inexhaustible source of inspiration, his many hobbies were widely known. And so that the rival would quickly become fed up and leave his mistress, Adele’s husband came up with an original way: he ordered a large portrait of his wife from Klimt, in the hope that by posing and being too often near the artist, he would quickly get bored with her.

Gustav Klimt

Ferdinand approached the issue of formalizing the contract with all seriousness: he knew that Klimt was a sought-after artist, and his paintings were a profitable investment. Moreover, in this way he would be able to perpetuate his surname.

G. Klimt. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, 1907

Adele Bloch-Bauer was the owner of a fashionable salon where poets, artists and other representatives of the creative elite of Vienna gathered. This is how her niece Maria Altman remembered her: “Suffering, constantly suffering from headaches, smoking like a locomotive, terribly tender and languid. A soulful face, self-satisfied and elegant.”

G. Klimt. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II, 1912

The artist agreed to the proposal to paint a portrait of Adele. The reward amount was very decent. Klimt worked for 4 years, during which time he created about 100 sketches and the famous “Golden Adele”. If the artist and the model had any kind of relationship, then during this time they really stopped.

G. Klimt. Sketches for the portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer

In 1918, at the age of 52, Klimt died. Adele survived him by 7 years. Before her death, she asked her husband to bequeath three paintings, including her portrait, to the Belvedere Museum. Until 1918, the portrait was in the possession of the Bloch-Bauer family, and from 1918 to 1921. – in the Austrian State Gallery. In 1938, Austria became part of Nazi Germany. Due to the outbreak of Jewish pogroms, Ferdinand had to leave his home and all his property and flee to Switzerland.

Gustav Klimt

During the war, the collection was confiscated by Germany and transferred to the Austrian Gallery. Because of Jewish origin the author and the sitters, these paintings did not end up in the Fuhrer’s collection, but still they were not destroyed. Allegedly, Hitler met with Klimt back in the days when he was trying to enter the Academy of Painting in Vienna, and he positively assessed his work. However, no reliable evidence of this has survived.

Gustav Klimt

G. Klimt. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, 1907. Detail

After the war, “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer” ended up in the Belvedere Museum in Vienna, and would have remained there until now, but one day the will of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer was discovered, in which he bequeathed all his property to his nephews - the children of his brother. At that time, only Maria Altman, who fled during the war to the United States and received American citizenship, remained alive. The legal proceedings lasted 7 years, after which Maria’s right to own five paintings by Gustav Klimt, including “The Golden Adele,” was recognized.

Maria Altman and famous portrait her aunt Adele

Then all of Austria was alarmed. Newspapers came out with headlines: “Austria is losing its relic!”, “We will not give America our national treasure!” But it still had to be done. Maria agreed to leave the paintings in Austria if she was paid their market value - $300 million! But this amount was too large, and the paintings went to the USA, where Ronald Lauder bought them from the heiress for his gallery in New York for $135 million. The Austrians are now content with only souvenirs with images of Adele Bloch-Bauer.

All of Austria said goodbye to its national relic

Films about Gustav Klimt:

-Klimt (2006)

The film tells the story of Gustav Klimt's passion for Lia de Castro. The narrative develops like an intricate mosaic from the delirium of an already dying artist

— Woman in Gold (2015)

The story of Maria Altmann, who is trying to achieve justice - to return the values ​​​​taken from her family by the Nazis several decades ago. Among the cultural heritage of women famous picture Gustav Klimt "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer"

-Bride of the Wind (2001)

About Oskar Kokoschka’s painting “The Bride of the Wind” and his romance with Alma Mahler. Klimt appeared here a couple of times

Gustav Klimt "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer" I, 1907, oil on canvas, 138x138 cm, New Gallery, New York

The most expensive in the world was put on public display in a New York gallery.
modern history picture.
"Adele Bloch Bauer" by Gustav Klimtbought for $135 million by Ronald Lauder, heir to a cosmetics empire Estee Lauder.

Judith I (detail of a painting) 1901
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer (detail of a painting) 1907
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer (detail of a painting) 1912

Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881—1925)

Daughter general director Vienna Banking Union Moritz Bauer. Adele Bauer in 1899, being 18 years old, married the much older Ferdinand Bloch.
Before this, her sister Maria married Ferdinand Bloch's brother Gustav. Both families took the surname Bloch-Bauer.

They belonged to a select layer of the Jewish big bourgeoisie of the Fin de siècle (end of the century) period. The salon of Ferdinand and Adele Bloch-Bauer brought together painters, writers and
social democratic politicians, such as Karl Renner and Julius Tandler.

Adele Bloch-Bauer became a model for Gustav Klimt’s paintings four times and had no idea that in addition to worldwide fame, her name would be involved in a scandal. But let's start in order.

Maria Altmann, niece and heir of Adele Bloch-Bauer, who will be discussed below, described her aunt as follows:
“Suffering, constantly suffering from headaches, smoking like a locomotive, terrible
soft and dark. A soulful face, self-satisfied and elegant.”

The artists supported by the Bloch-Bauer family included Gustav Klimt, who had been friends with Adele Bloch-Bauer since 1899.
Already in 1901, Klimt painted Judith I, a half-act depicting the biblical Judith. The model was Adele Bloch-Bauer herself, although this fact was not advertised anywhere.

Judith I and, eight years later, Judith II are embodiments of Klimt's femme fatale archetype. His Judith is not a biblical heroine, but rather a Viennese, his contemporary, as evidenced by her fashionable, perhaps expensive necklace. According to the publications of Bertha Zuckerkandl, Klimt created the type of vamp woman as early as
long before Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich, who personified him, appeared on the silver screen. Proud and free, but at the same time mysterious and enchanting, the femme fatale values ​​herself higher than the male spectator.



Judith I 1901 Belvedere Gallery, Vienna
Judith I (framed) 1901

Klimt's paintings cannot be viewed separately from their luxurious frames. The first version of the frame for Judith I was made by accident by the artist’s brother, the jeweler Georg Klimt.
The ornament in the painting was also transferred to the frame in a very popular manner at that time, proposed by the Pre-Raphaelites.

Paintings about Judith were created under the influence Byzantine art, which Klimt studied during a trip to Ravenna.
The intended contrast between the volumetric plasticity of the finely drawn and softly colored face and the two-dimensional surface of the ornament - distinguishing feature these paintings. The “photomontage effect” enhances their charm.

Interesting detail:
All paintings of early Klimt were born under the influence of their future framing. That is, first the artist’s brother brought him a frame, and then a painting was created, which, as it seemed to Klimt, should correspond to the frame.

Without a doubt, Klimt found in Judith a general symbol of justice that a woman does over a man who atones for his guilt by death.
In this biblical figure, Eros and Death are united in a familiar union that the fin de siecle (end of the century) found so intriguing.

In 1909, “Judith II” was created - and Adele is very likely also depicted on this canvas.



Judith II 1909 Gallery contemporary art, Venice
Judith II with frame 1909

As Gilles Néret writes, Klimt was clearly more likely to paint the “deadly orgasm” of a femme fatale than a portrait of a virtuous Jewish widow.”

Klimt's Judith must have irritated that part of Viennese society (in
otherwise ready to accept his violation of the taboo), which was called the Jewish bourgeoisie. Klimt violated religious prohibitions, and viewers could not believe their eyes.
Commentators believed that Klimt must have been mistaken in asserting that this frenzied, virtually orgasmic woman, with her half-lidded eyes and slightly parted lips, was a pious Jewish widow and brave heroine.

People were sure that Klimt had in mind Salome, the quintessential fin-de-siècle femme fatale who had already captivated so many artists and thinkers, from Gustave Moreau to Oscar Wilde, Aubrey Beardsley, Franz von Stuck and Max Klinger.
And the painting “Judith II”, with the best intentions, was constantly called “Salome” in catalogs and magazines. It remains unknown whether Klimt attributed the traits of Salome to his Judith; but whatever his intentions, the result is a most eloquent depiction of Eros and fantasy contemporary artist femme fatale.

His comrade-in-arms and friend Alfred Bass wrote in his diary: “When I saw Gustav’s Salome, I realized that all the women I had known until now were not real. When I saw his Kiss, I realized that I had never loved for real. When I saw the sketch for “Judith,” I realized the worst thing was that I had not lived at all, and if I had lived, it was not real.
life."

In 1903, Klimt received an order from Ferdinand Bloch for a portrait of his wife. In subsequent years, the artist created more than 100 sketches for the painting before, in 1907, he was able to present his “Golden Adele” to the public. The portrait shows Adele at the age of 26.



“Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” 1907 Gallery of Modern Art, New York

This painting is also known as the Golden Adele or the Austrian Mona Lisa.
It is considered one of the most significant paintings by Klimt and the Austrian Art Nouveau in general.
It is noteworthy that the main idea of ​​the picture already existed at this time. early stage. Only the exact position of the model remained controversial, primarily the position of the arms and head.
The four sketches shown here were drawn in black chalk.





Sketches for "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I" 1903

If in the work “Judith and Holofernes” Adele Bloch-Bauer acted under the pseudonym Judith, then in this picture she appears in her own person.

All the features that distinguish Klimt’s “golden period” are evident here: a combination of realism in the depiction of the face and hands with abstract decorations, a smooth flow of one into the other and back again, exotic symbolism filling the heroine’s attire and the surrounding background, an elusively spicy atmosphere.
They say that Klimt painted his strange portraits from naked models, and only then covered the bodies with flat ornamental clothes.
Perhaps so: what the Puritan public called “depravity” literally oozes from this canvas. But this is not “depravity,” but rather fatigue from one’s own respectability, which has turned into a gilded cage, and a desire to break free.

The portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer dates back to the golden period of Klimt's work. In 1903, during a trip to Italy, the artist was inspired by church mosaics richly decorated with gold in Ravenna and Venice, ancient language which he transferred to modern forms visual arts. He experimented with various techniques painting in order to give the surface of their works a new look. In addition to oil painting he used relief techniques and gilding.
Only the face, shoulders and arms are depicted naturalistically. The interior, together with the flowing dress and furniture, are only indicated, turning into an ornament, becomes abstract and does not give
no spatial orientation, which corresponds to the color scheme and forms used by Klimt in 1898-1900. Klimt admired Byzantine, Minoan, Mycenaean and Egyptian art, as well as medieval religious painting in Italy. In addition, the shapes of the canvas reflect the influence of Japanese, fashionable at that time in Europe.
the art of Ukiyo-e engraving and Edo period painting. Last but not least, one can feel character traits French impressionism, which was known in Austria largely due to the Vienna Secession.

The face and hands, realistically painted in cold colors, are the visual dominant in the perception of the picture, standing out against the background of other elements executed ornamentally. The composition of the canvas is divided into two vertical parts: on the right is Adele Bloch-Bauer, the left part is almost empty and contains only a hint of the interior. The lower third of the canvas is filled with the hem of her dress. Gustav Klimt abandoned the depiction of perspective depth in the painting, preferring flatness. The ornamental gold background displaces the sketchily designated space into the background. The walls, chair and dress of the model turn out to be just two-dimensional figures located side by side.

A graceful female figure, revealed upon closer examination, sits in a chair. There is no free space above and below it; it occupies the entire vertical of the picture. The head image appears to be cut off at the top. Black, up-swept hair and a disproportionately large red mouth contrast with the extremely pale, almost blue-white carnation. The woman holds her hands clasped in a dynamic bend in front of her chest and looks directly at the viewer, thereby increasing the visual impact.

A shawl is thrown over the figure-hugging dress. It flows, expanding from the hands to the lower edge of the picture. Gold tones predominate here too. The neckline of the dress is decorated with a thin border of rectangles and a wide stripe with a double row of triangles. Then a pattern of randomly arranged stylized eyes inscribed in triangles was used (see the symbolism of the “All-Seeing Eye”). The cape, with its pattern of spirals, leaf shapes, and barely defined folds, seems a little lighter than the dress. The chair, also gold, stands out from the general background only thanks to the pattern of spirals - there are completely no shadows, halftones or contours on it. A small light green fragment of the floor adds a color accent to the overall scheme and helps give stability to the figure.

The finished “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” was immediately exhibited in the artist’s studio in Vienna in 1907 and in the same year appeared in the magazine “German Art and Decoration”, and then at the international art exhibition in Mannheim. In 1910, the portrait was in the Klimt Hall as part of the IX International Exhibition in Venice. Until 1918, the portrait was not
was exhibited and was in the possession of Ferdinand and Adele Bloch-Bauer. From 1918 to 1921 - in the Austrian State Gallery.

Five years later, in 1912, Klimt painted another portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer.



"Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II" 1912

Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer acquired, in addition to the first “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” and
the second - “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II”, as well as four more landscapes: “Birch Grove”, “Cammer Castle on Lake Attersee III” “Apple Tree I”, “Houses in Unterach am Attersee”. “Portrait of Amalia Zuckerkandl” was also purchased.

Adele Bloch-Bauer died on January 24, 1925, leaving a will in which she asked her husband, after his death, to donate two of her portraits and four landscapes by Gustav Klimt to the Austrian State Gallery.
When the will was read, her husband agreed
to fulfill the will of the deceased, but did not fully fulfill it, he gave the gallery only one Klimt landscape. He donated the landscape “Cammer Castle on Lake Attersee III” to the Austrian Belvedere Gallery in 1936.

“Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” in 1937 participated in an exhibition of Austrian art in Paris and Bern.

When Austria became part of the Third Reich after the Anschluss on March 12/13, 1938, the Jew Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer fled first to Czechoslovakia and then to Switzerland. The paintings, along with most of his fortune, remained in Austria.
Reinhard Heydrich lived in his summer residence of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer after the annexation of Czechoslovakia. Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer died on November 13, 1945 in Zurich. Before his death, he canceled in his will the donation of paintings to Austrian museums.

Since the Bloch-Bauer family had no children, Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer appointed his brother's children - Maria Altmann, Louise Gutmann and Robert Bentley - as his heirs. Shortly before his death, he hired Viennese lawyer Rinesh to protect the interests of the heirs.

The Bloch-Bauers' large collection of art, including five paintings by Klimt (including The Golden Adele), was confiscated by Nazi Germany and transferred to the Austrian Gallery. In 1941, an Austrian gallery bought Klimt’s paintings “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” and “Apple Tree I”.

In 1946, Austria declared all legal acts motivated by Nazi ideology invalid.
However, when returning art treasures confiscated by the Nazis to their owners, Austria used tactics against the owners
voluntary-compulsory transfer of artistic masterpieces by them to museums in exchange for permission to export the main part of their collections from the country. The same thing happened with five paintings by Klimt: they remained in the Austrian Gallery because the Bloch-Bauer heirs had the opportunity to take out the main part of the collection.

In 1998, Austria passed the Art Restitution Law, which required the return of works of art looted by the Nazis and allowed any citizen to request information from museums about how the works of art came into their holdings.

In the same year, an Austrian journalist, working in the archives, discovered documents
questioned official version the appearance of Klimt's paintings in the Austrian Gallery (as if they were a gift from Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer in 1936). A series of articles on this topic followed.

The only living heir of the Bloch-Bauers, Maria Altman, a US citizen, learned about this legal conflict and went to court.


Maria Altman is the heiress of the Bloch-Bauers.

In February 2006, the famous “Golden Adele” and four other paintings by Klimt after the trial “Maria Altman against the Republic of Austria”, by decision of an international court, became the personal property of a US citizen 79 year oldMaria Altman.

The Austrian government has stated its desire to preserve Klimt's works in the country.
Austria has taken measures unprecedented in the history of the state to save its national heritage.
Negotiations were held with banks about a loan to purchase paintings. In addition, the country's government appealed to the population for help, intending to issue “Klimt bonds.”
The public announced a fundraising subscription.
Donations began to arrive, and not only from the Austrians. However, Altman's asking price skyrocketed from $150 million to $245 million to $300 million within a month.

After Austria renounced its right of first refusal, five Klimt paintings were brought to Los Angeles on February 14, 2006, where Maria Altman had lived since 1942.

The very fact of selling the paintings will violate the will of Adele Bloch-Bauer, who wished to transfer the paintings to the Austrian Gallery (and Maria Altman is an heir through her line).
Paradoxically, Adele’s will was to some extent fulfilled by the Nazi regime by transferring Klimt’s paintings to the gallery.
Portraits of Adele, despite the rampant anti-Semitism in Austria at that time, were exhibited in the museum during the Nazi era.
Democratic justice ultimately led to the violation of Adele's wishes, not to mention the millions of Austrians who were deprived of their national icon.

Maria Altmann had a rare chance to go down in Austrian history by showing nobility and leaving Klimt's paintings in his homeland.
Of course, not for free, and the initial estimate of $150 million was considered fair compensation in Austria.
However, the subsequent doubling of the price and the intransigence of Altman and her representatives, of course, did not add sympathy to this elderly woman in the artist’s homeland. By the way, the Altman family has always been very wealthy.

In February 2006, more than four thousand Austrians and visitors to Vienna came to the Belvedere to see for the last time five Klimt paintings that had passed into private hands. I note that “Golden Adele” was the calling card of the Vienna Belvedere Gallery; for many years it was placed on the covers of catalogs and albums about the museum. And already on June 19, newspapers reported that Ronald Lauder had purchased “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” for $135 million. The portrait has since been in the Neue Galerie founded by Lauder in New York.

Now “Golden Adele” can be admired by residents and guests of New York, and the rest
All that remains is to see the famous Klimt painting on souvenir products.

The history of the painting, known throughout the world as “Golden Adele” or “Austrian Mona Lisa,” can be called a detective story. The reason for its creation was the husband’s revenge for an affair with his artist’s wife. Gustav Klimt, the painting remained undamaged during the Second World War, and in the post-war period "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer" became the subject of contention between Austria and the United States.

The history of the painting, known throughout the world as “Golden Adele” or “Austrian Mona Lisa,” can be called a detective story. The reason for its creation was the husband’s revenge for an affair with his artist’s wife. Gustav Klimt, the painting remained undamaged during the Second World War, and in the post-war period "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer" became the subject of contention between Austria and the United States.