" Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer " , Gustav Klimt

The painting is regarded as one of Klimt's and Austrian Art Nouveau's most significant works. The " Golden Adele " or " Austrian Mona Lisa " is another moniker for her.

The artwork, which was in the Austrian state museum collection, was given to the heiress Adele by the court. In 2006, American entrepreneur Ronald Lauder acquired the painting for a record $135 million for a painting for the New Gallery he created in New York. The box office blockbuster "Lady in Gold" was shot around this painting in 2015.

Adele, the daughter of the chairman of the Vienna banking consortium, was an affluent, privileged girl who had grown up in a protected environment, but she was also kind and charming. According to her niece Adele, she frequently suffered from headaches and smoked incessantly, yet despite this, she was known as a sweet and languid woman.

With Klimt, the Bloch-Bauer pair had strong personal contacts, and they were members of the so-called "bohemian party" in Vienna. Gustav Klimt found an endless amount of inspiration in love affairs, and his numerous interests were well-known. Adele's husband devised a novel method to irritate the opponent and cause him to abandon his lover.

In 1903, he commissioned Klimt to paint a huge painting of his wife, believing that by sitting and being so close to the artist, she would get tired of him. Ferdinand took the task of drafting a contract very seriously: he knew Klimt was a sought-after artist, and his paintings were a good investment.

In the years thereafter, the artist has drawn over 100 drawings for the painting, before presenting it to the public in 1907. Only the face, shoulders, and arms are seen in their natural state. The interior, along with the flowing garment and furnishings, is just hinted, becoming abstract and devoid of spatial direction, which relates to Klimt's color palette and shapes utilized in 1898-1900.

Klimt died in 1918, at the age of 52. Adele outlasted him by seven years. Before her death, she wanted her husband to leave the Belvedere Museum three paintings, including her portrait. The portrait was in the possession of the Bloch-Bauer family until 1918, and then in the Austrian State Gallery from 1918 to 1921.

During the war, Germany took the collection and transported it to the Austrian gallery. These canvases were not included in the Fuhrer's collection due to the author's and models' Jewish origins, but they were not destroyed. Hitler allegedly met with Klimt during his application to the Academy of Art in Vienna, and he praised his work. There is, however, no convincing proof of this.

During the war, the "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer" wound up at the Belvedere Museum in Vienna, where it would have remained until Ferdinand Bloch-will Bauer's was uncovered, in which he gave all his possessions to his nephews - his brother's children.

Only Maria Altman remained alive at the time, having fled to the United States during the war and obtained American citizenship. After a seven-year legal battle, Mary's right to five Gustav Klimt paintings, including the Golden Adele, was acknowledged.

Suddenly Austria as a whole became concerned. Newspapers came out with headlines: "Austria loses its relic!", "We will not give America our national treasure!". Yet something has to be done. Maria decided to leave the artworks in Austria in exchange for their market worth of $300 million. But, this sum was too high, and the paintings were sent to the United States, where they were purchased for $135 million by heiress Ronald Lauder for his New York gallery. Austrians are now pleased with souvenirs featuring Adele Bloch-Bauer.

"Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer", Gustav Klimt, 1907 Oil on canvas. 138 × 138 cm. New Gallery, New York

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