Adele Bloch-Bauer I
GUSTAV KLIMT, 1907
In the early 20th century, an Austrian sugar mogul named Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer commissioned a Viennese artist, Gustav Klimt, to create a portrait of Bloch-Bauer’s wife, Adele. Klimt was already a well-known innovator. He and his contemporaries, calling themselves the Vienna Secession, were pushing the boundaries of established styles and techniques. Adele Bloch-Bauer I is an example of Klimt’s non-traditional approach. All of the gold and silver is genuine, applied as both leaf and paint. The stylized body is flattened into the background and turned into an ornament of sorts. Compare this to the self-portrait by van Gogh on page 312; this piece was painted only about 20 years later. Art was evolving at a dizzying pace!
Since its creation, Adele Bloch-Bauer I has been on a complicated journey. The painting was confiscated by the Nazis after they invaded Austria in 1938. Following their fall from power, a legal battle ensued over whether it belonged to the Austrian State Gallery or to the only surviving niece of the Bloch-Bauers, Maria Altmann. In 2006, Altmann was legally declared the rightful owner. Later that year, Adele Bloch-Bauer I was purchased by the Neue Galerie in New York City as the centerpiece of their collection of Jewish-owned art looted by the Nazi government. That same year, Klimt’s masterpiece was sold in the United States for more money than any painting in history up to that point—$135 million US. —DDG