The Lady in Gold
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (also called The Lady in Gold or The Woman in Gold) is an oil painting on canvas, with gold leaf, by Gustav Klimt, completed between 1903 and 1907. The portrait was commissioned by the sitter's husband, Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, a Viennese and Jewish banker and sugar producer. The painting was stolen by the Nazis in 1941, and displayed at the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere. The portrait is the final and most fully representative work of Klimt's golden phase. It was the first of two depictions of Adele by Klimt—the second was completed in 1912; these were two of several works by the artist that the Bloch-Bauer family owned. Adele died in 1925; her will asked that the artworks by Klimt be eventually left to the Galerie Belvedere, although these works belonged to Ferdinand, not her. Following the Anschluss of Austria by Nazi Germany, and due to the Nazi persecution of Jews, Ferdinand fled Vienna, and made his way to Switzerland, leaving behind much of his wealth, including his large art collection. The painting was stolen by the Nazis in 1941, along with the remainder of Ferdinand's assets, after a false charge of tax evasion was made against him. The…
- Pages
- 349
