Obsessed With The Woman In Gold

Artist: Gustav Klimt
1907
Oil, silver, and gold on Canvas
13x13cm (54x54in)
Location: Neue Galerie, New York

Painted by Gustav Klimt, and bought by Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer (husband of the woman in the portrait Adele Bloch-Bauer). Stolen by the Nazis in 1938, and later hung at the Belvedere Museum in Austria and became property of the Museum. After a 8-year legal battle it was returned to Maria Altmann in 2006. 

Maria Altmann next to The Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I

Later, Ronald Lauder purchased The Woman in Gold (or known as the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I) for $135 million which at the time was the highest price ever paid for a painting. 

The Story behind this painting is fascinating, it has been all over the world and in many different hands. If you are interested in learning about its story I suggest the following podcasts, movie, and book to learn more about it.

Recommended Podcasts:

Listen to Jennifer Dasal on her Art Curious podcast talk about Klimt's Adele Bloch-Bauer I. This episode -Episode #74- is about 30 minutes long and talks about the background of Klimt's painting of The Woman in Gold and also the auctioning audacity of the piece. 
You can find a link to the podcast down below, on spotify, or search: Episode #74: Art Auction Audacity-- Klimt's Adele Bloch-Bauer I (Season 8, Episode 6)
        https://open.spotify.com/episode/3apRDFVpxwyIXWZe8XRASv

Listen to the BBC Witness History podcast talk about the "Woman in Gold". Louise Hidalgo speaks to Randol Schoenberg, the young lawyer who took on Maria Almann's case to win back the painting. It's about a 9 minute podcast which can be found on spotify or the BBC website. Here's a link to the BBC website:
       https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/w3csyx2w​
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Recommended Movie:

The "Women in Gold" (2015) directed by Simon Curtis. Maria Altmann, who was a Jewish refugee, takes on the Austrian government to recover artwork she believes rightfully belongs to her family. The movie is what first got me interested in Gustav Klimt and his artwork. You can rent the movie for $3.99 on Amazon Prime or for free on the Roku Channel. I just checked out the DVD at my local library and watched it. ​

Recommended Book : 

So, first of all disclaimer...I have not read this book yet, but when I was looking up information about the "Woman in Gold", this book came up as a recommendation. I currently have it on hold to pick up at the library and after I read it will let you know more about the book. This book is entitled "The Lade in Gold: The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt's Masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I" by author Anne Marie O'Conner. 

There are many articles, blogs, books, podcasts, and more out there about "The Woman in Gold" and other of Gustav Klimt's works. Recently while digging up information about The Woman in Gold, I also found some old but interesting information about Klimt's "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II". In 2006, Oprah Winfrey bought the portrait for $87.9 million at Christie's in New York. There's all sorts of fun information out there about your favorite works that you may not know! Anyways, hope you enjoyed reading and take the time to watch the movie, listen to the podcasts I recommended, or read the book!

Until next time, 

​Hannah