Maria Altmann
Who was Adele Bloch-Bauer’s partner?
The story of Adele Bloch-Bauer and Maria Altmann formed the basis for the 2017 novel Stolen Beauty by Laurie Lico Albanese. The portrait is featured in the memoir of Gregor Collins, The Accidental Caregiver, about his relationship with Maria Altmann, published in August 2012. The book was dramatised for the stage in January 2015.
Who was the executor of Adele Bloch Bauer's will?
On 19 January 1923 Adele Bloch-Bauer wrote a will. Ferdinand's brother Gustav, a lawyer by training, helped her frame the document and was named as the executor. The will included a reference to the Klimt works owned by the couple, including the two portraits of her:
Why was portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer stolen?
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I. The painting was stolen by the Nazis in 1941, along with the remainder of Ferdinand's assets, after a charge of tax evasion was made against him. The assets raised from the purported sales of artwork, property and his sugar business were offset against the tax claim.
What happened to Mariella Altmann after she sued the Austrian government?
Still, the newly created Austrian restitution panel denied Ms. Altmann’s claim. It wasn’t until 2006, after the United States Supreme Court cleared the way for Ms. Altmann, then living in California, to sue the Austrian government, that an agreement was reached. Rather than pursue a lengthy and costly trial, Ms.
Is Maria Altmann still alive?
February 7, 2011Maria Altmann / Date of death
Where is the Klimt painting Woman in Gold now?
Neue Galerie New YorkPrivate collectionPortrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I/Locations
Is The Lady in Gold a true story?
“Woman in Gold,” a 2015 film starring Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds, is based on the true story of Maria Altmann, a Jewish woman who took on and won a years-long battle against the Austrian government to regain ownership of a Gustav Klimt painting of her aunt, Adele Bloch-Bauer.
How much did the woman in gold sell for?
$130 millionSo it made sense for us to sell the most valuable piece at $130 million on a private basis, and with that comparable established in the market, to offer the other four pieces at auction. ' Altmann's four Klimt paintings were sold at a record-breaking Christie's sale of Impressionist and Modern Art in November 2006.
How much is a Klimt painting worth?
Gustav Klimt's work has been offered at auction multiple times, with realized prices ranging from 7 USD to 87,936,000 USD, depending on the size and medium of the artwork.
Who bought Klimt?
Ronald S. LauderA dazzling gold-flecked 1907 portrait by Gustav Klimt has been purchased for the Neue Galerie in Manhattan by the cosmetics magnate Ronald S. Lauder for $135 million, the highest sum ever paid for a painting.
What happened to Maria Altmann's diamond necklace?
She had just married opera singer Fritz Altmann and her uncle had given her Adele's diamond earrings and a necklace as a wedding present. But the Nazis stole them from her — the stunning necklace she wore on her wedding day was sent to Nazi leader Hermann Göring as a present for his wife.
What happened to Maria Altmann's husband Fritz?
His wife began selling cashmere sweaters from a shop in Beverly Hills, and was so successful that she turned it into a fashion shop and her husband joined her in the business. Fritz died in 1994. Altmann's quiet life ended abruptly in 1998, when Czernin announced his discovery.
Which Klimt painting did Oprah buy?
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer IIOprah Winfrey made a pretty penny selling Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II (1912) for $150 million in 2016, reports Katya Kazakina for Bloomberg. The buyer is allegedly an unidentified Chinese collector, who pulled the trigger on the purchase over the summer.
How much is The Kiss painting worth?
around $240,000The price paid for The Kiss painting by the Austrian government was both record-breakingly high and an incredible bargain. When the Austrian government bought The Kiss from Klimt before he finished it, they paid a record-breaking 25,000 crowns for the painting. Today, this sum translates to around $240,000.
Who owns the painting The Lady in Gold?
An arbitration panel in Vienna would ultimately award Altmann ownership of the paintings. In June 2006 cosmetics magnate Ronald Lauder purchased Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I for $135 million — then the highest price ever paid for a painting — for display in Manhattan's Neue Galerie, a sale brokered by Christie's.
Who owns the painting The Woman in gold?
Who owns the Lady in Gold painting? Cosmetics tycoon Ronald Lauder bought Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I from Christie's for $135 million, then the highest price ever paid for an artwork. The painting will go on display at Manhattan's Neue Galerie.
What court did Altmann go to?
Altmann, ended up in the Supreme Court of the United States, which ruled in 2004 that Austria was not immune from such a lawsuit. After this decision, Altmann and Austria agreed to binding arbitration by a panel of three Austrian judges.
How much were the paintings of Altmann worth when they were returned?
The paintings were estimated to be collectively worth at least $150 million when returned.
What was the amount of money Altmann sued?
Although the Austrian courts later reduced this amount to $350,000, this was still too much for Altmann, and she dropped her case in the Austrian court system. In 2000, Altmann filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA).
How much did Adele Bloch-Bauer II sell for?
In November 2006, Adele Bloch-Bauer II (1912) was sold at auction at Christie's in New York fetching almost $88 million. In total, the four remaining paintings sold at auction for $192.7 million; coupled with the Lauder-bought painting the sum total was approximately $325 million.
What did the Austrian Green Party do in 1998?
With Austria under pressure in the 1990s to re-examine its Nazi past, the Austrian Green Party helped pass a new law in 1998 introducing greater transparency into the hitherto murky process of dealing with the issue of restitution of artworks looted during the Nazi period.
Who was involved in the Stealing Klimt case?
Stealing Klimt, released in 2007, features interviews with Altmann and others who were closely involved with the case from E. Randol Schoenberg to Hubertus Czernin. Adele's Wish, released in 2008 by filmmaker Terrence Turner, features interviews with Altmann, Schoenberg, and leading experts from around the world.
When did the Klimt paintings leave Austria?
The paintings left Austria in March 2006 and were on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art until June 30, 2006. Months after the Austrian government returned Altmann's family's belongings, she consigned the Klimt paintings to the auction house Christie's to be sold on behalf of her family.
What is Klimt's Judith painting?
The painting measures 138 by 138 cm (54 by 54 in); it is composed of oil paint and silver and gold leaf on canvas. The portrait shows Adele Bloch-Bauer sitting on a golden throne or chair, in front of a golden starry background. Around her neck is the same jewelled choker Klimt included in the Judith painting. She wears a tight golden dress in a triangular shape, made up of rectilinear forms. In places the dress merges into the background so much so that the museum curator Jan Thompson writes that "one comes across the model almost by accident, so enveloped is she in the thick geometric scheme". Peter Vergo, writing for Grove Art, considers that the painting "marks the height of ... [Klimt's] gold-encrusted manner of painting".
What is the effect of the gold background on Adele Bloch-Bauer?
For Whitford the effect of the gold background is to "remove Adele Bloch-Bauer from the earthly plane, transform the flesh and blood into an apparition from a dream of sensuality and self-indulgence"; he, and Thomson, consider the work to look more like a religious icon than a secular portrait.
How old was Ferdinand when he married Adele?
Ferdinand was older than his fiancée and at the time of the marriage in December 1899, she was 18 and he was 35. The couple, who had no children, both changed their surnames to Bloch-Bauer. Socially well-connected, Adele brought together writers, politicians and intellectuals for regular salons at their home.
Was Adele Bauer a Jewish woman?
Adele Bauer [ de] was from a wealthy Jewish Vien nese family. Her father was a director of the Wiener Bankverein [ de], the seventh largest bank in Austria-Hungary, and the general director of the Oriental Railway. In the late 1890s Adele met Klimt, and may have begun a relationship with him. Opinion is divided on whether Adele and Klimt had an affair. The artist Catherine Dean considered that Adele was "the only society lady painted by Klimt who is known definitely to be his mistress", while the journalist Melissa MĂĽller and the academic Monica Tatzkow write that "no evidence has ever been produced that their relationship was more than a friendship". Whitford observes that some of the preliminary sketches that Klimt made for The Kiss showed a bearded figure which was possibly a self-portrait; the female partner is described by Whitford as an "idealised portrait of Adele". Whitford writes that the only evidence put forward to support the theory is the position of the woman's right hand, as Adele had a disfigured finger following a childhood accident.
When was Fritza Riedler's portrait exhibited?
Portrait of Fritza Riedler (1906), exhibited and criticised alongside the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer in 1907. Klimt exhibited his portrait at the 1907 Mannheim International Art Show, alongside the Portrait of Fritza Riedler (1906).
When was Klimt's painting of Adele?
Preparation and execution. Preparatory sketch for the portrait, c. 1903. The mosaic of Empress Theodora at the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna. In mid-1903 Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer commissioned Klimt to paint a portrait of his wife; he wished to give the piece to Adele's parents as an anniversary present that October.
Where was the painting of the Golden Shrine exhibited?
In 1908 the portrait was exhibited at the Kunstschau in Vienna where critical reaction was mixed. The unnamed reviewer from the Wiener Allgemeine Zeitung described the painting as "an idol in a golden shrine", while the critic Eduard Pötzl described the work as " mehr Blech als Bloch " ("more brass than Bloch").
How many children did Adele Bloch-Bauer have?
The couple had three sons and a daughter in America, building a life together in a country that welcomed them. Yet Altmann never forgot what the Nazis stole from her family. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, painting by Gustav Klimt (1862-1918). Photo: Leemage/Corbis/Getty Images.
Why did Altmann send her a sweater?
He sent Altmann a cashmere sweater to see if Americans might like the fine, soft wool. Altmann took the sweater to a department store in Beverly Hills, which agreed to sell them. Other stores across the country followed suit, and Altmann eventually opened her own clothing boutique.
What did Adele die of?
In 1925, Adele died of meningitis at the age of 44.
What did Ferdinand die of?
He died of a broken heart.”. Of course, the Nazis seized all of Ferdinand's assets, which included his vast art collection. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I became known as Woman in Gold, as well as a symbol of all that the family had lost.
Where are the paintings of Adele Bloch-Bauer?
Yet the paintings hung in Vienna’s Austrian Gallery at Belvedere Palace with a placard inscribed: "Adele Bloch-Bauer 1907, bequeathed by Adele and Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer.". When Altmann arrived there, she defied the security guards to be photographed beside her Aunt Adele, saying loudly: “That painting belongs to me.”.
Who was Maria Altmann?
Altmann led a charmed childhood. Maria Viktoria Bloch-Bauer was born to Gustav Bloch-Bauer and Therese Bauer on February 18, 1916, in Vienna, Austria. Her wealthy Jewish family, including her uncle Ferdinand and aunt Adele, were close to the artists of the Vienna Secession movement, which Klimt helped establish in 1897.
Did Altmann get the Klimt paintings back?
For many years, Altmann had assumed that the Austrian National Gallery had taken possession of the Klimt paintings. But when she was 82, she learned from the tenacious Austrian investigative journalist Hubertus Czernin that the title to the paintings was hers, and she vowed to get them back. In 1999 she and her lawyer tried to sue the Austrian government. It had kept the paintings based on Adele’s will in which she made a “kind request,” that Ferdinand donate the paintings to the state museum after his death, which took place in 1945.
Why did Altmann choose Arnold Schoenberg?
Schoenberg compared their legal efforts to a PR stunt — victory seemed impossible, but it was sure to earn Altmann’s story the attention it deserved. Really, that’s all they wanted.
How much did Adele's portrait cost?
That year, Altmann sold Adele’s portrait to Ronald Lauder, co-founder and president of the Neue Galerie in New York City, for a staggering $135 million, the highest price ever paid for a single painting at the time.
Why was the artwork stolen from Altmann's home?
The artwork had been stolen from her family’s home after she escaped from Austria as a Jewish refugee of the Holocaust during World War II. Never certain she would even live to see a verdict, Altmann’s fight wasn’t about money or revenge.
Where did the Altmann case go?
Over several years, Altmann’s case went from a district court in Central California to the U.S. Supreme Court, which ultimately led to binding arbitration in Austria. It was a risky series of moves meant to push the case forward, as Schoenberg feared Altmann would die before her case was resolved.
Did Adele die before the Klimts were stolen?
Furthermore, Adele died before the Klimts were stolen, and Ferdinand’s will left everything to his nieces and nephews. It was up to Schoenberg to demonstrate, in part, that Adele’s dying wishes were simply a request that could not have been made with knowledge of the horrors that would befall her family. Advertisement.
Where is Maria Altmann?
Maria Altmann, at her home in Los Angeles on Jan. 9, 2004, stands before a poor reproduction of famed Austrian painter Gustav Klimt’s “The Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer I.” (AP Photo/Nam Huh) Altmann, then living in Los Angeles, never thought she would actually gain control of her native country’s most prized artistic possession.
Did Altmann do anything extravagant with her share of the money?
“You know, no one even thought we would win.”. According to Schoenberg, Altmann didn’t do anything extravagant with her share of the money.
What did the Dutch panel rule in 2013?
In 2013, a Dutch panel, for example, ruled that despite evidence that a Jewish industrialist persecuted by the Nazis was forced to sell two old masters paintings under duress, the heirs’ interest in restitution “carries less weight” than the interests of the museums that currently own them.
How much did Adele Bloch-Bauer I sell for?
For one, there is the mesmerizing gold-flecked painting itself, which set a record price of $135 million when it was sold in 2006.
What newspaper took successive regimes to task in 2013?
The German newspaper Der Spiegel also took successive regimes to task in 2013 when reporters revealed that the German government, both on its own and with various museums, ignored or actively frustrated restitution for decades.
How many unclaimed art pieces have been returned to France?
In France, fewer than 100 of the 2,000 unclaimed works of looted art that hang in the country’s museums have been returned.
Why did museums have to open up?
That same year, the Austrian Parliament passed a law requiring museums to open up their archives for research and to return plundered property. The legislation was spurred in part by revelations about looted art published by the journalist Hubertus Czernin, portrayed in the film by Daniel BrĂĽhl.
How many stolen art works are there in Woman in Gold?
As the new film “Woman in Gold,” starring Helen Mirren as the indefatigable Maria Altmann, acknowledges in a brief written prologue before the credits roll, more than 100,000 stolen works of art are still unaccounted for.
What countries signed the Washington Principles?
In 1998, 44 countries, including Austria, signed the Washington Principles on Nazi-Confiscated Art, a nonbinding agreement that called for a “just and fair solution” for Jews and other victims of Nazi persecution.
What happened to Adele Klimt after she died?
"The Klimts were always in the bedroom, but after she died, the bed was removed and there were always fresh flowers," Mrs. Altmann said.
How much did Klimt pay for his portrait?
A dazzling gold-flecked 1907 portrait by Gustav Klimt has been purchased for the Neue Galerie in Manhattan by the cosmetics magnate Ronald S. Lauder for $135 million, the highest sum ever paid for a painting.
How many paintings did Adele Altmann have?
In January an arbitration tribunal in Austria decided in favor of Mrs. Altmann and her fellow heirs, awarding them the five paintings. In addition to "Adele Bloch-Bauer I" they include a second portrait of Adele, from 1911, and three landscapes: "Beechwood" (1903), "Apple Tree I" (circa 1911) and "Houses in Unterach on Lake Atter" (1916).
How long did it take Klimt to paint Adele?
The painting, which took Klimt three years to create, shows her aunt regally posed, with a mysterious gaze, sensuous red lips and her hands twisted near her face to conceal a deformed finger. He used gold throughout the richly painted background and in the glistening fabric of Adele's patterned gown.
How much did Lauder pay for his paintings?
Lauder to disclose the price, experts familiar with the negotiations, speaking on condition of anonymity, said he paid $135 million for the work.
What is the significance of Mrs. Altmann's painting?
That Mrs. Altmann and her relatives have possession of the painting is a tale of perseverance and tenacity. After the war the family tried to regain their stolen possessions, including the paintings, porcelains, palaces and the sugar company founded by Mr. Bloch-Bauer.
Does Mrs. Altmann have a niece?
She has a niece and two nephews ; a cousin of her brother's second wife also survives. In a telephone interview on Friday Mrs. Altmann said she had met Mr. Lauder, a former American ambassador to Austria, some years ago and that she had visited the Neue Galerie when it first opened in November 2001.
Overview
Maria Altmann (née Maria Victoria Bloch, later Bloch-Bauer, February 18, 1916 – February 7, 2011) was an Austrian-American Jewish refugee from Austria, who fled her home country after it was annexed to the Third Reich. She is noted for her ultimately successful legal campaign to reclaim from the Government of Austria five family-owned paintings by the artist Gustav Klimt which were stolen by the …
Early life
Maria Altmann was born Maria Victoria Bloch on February 18, 1916 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, the daughter of Marie Therese (née Bauer 1874–1961) and Gustav Bloch (1862–1938). The family name was changed to Bloch-Bauer the following year.
She was a niece of Adele Bloch-Bauer, a wealthy Jewish patron of the arts wh…
Background to the Klimt case
Altmann's uncle, Czech sugar magnate Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, owned a small collection of artwork by the Austrian master Gustav Klimt, including two portraits of his wife, Adele Bloch-Bauer. In her will, Adele, who died in 1925, well before the rise of the Nazis, had asked her husband to leave the Klimts to the Austrian State Gallery upon his death; a much-debated point in more recent years has b…
Death
Altmann died on February 7, 2011 at her home in the Cheviot Hills neighborhood of Los Angeles, shortly before her 95th birthday. Obituaries appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, and many other publications internationally.
Legacy
Altmann's story has been recounted in three documentary films. Stealing Klimt, released in 2007, features interviews with Altmann and others who were closely involved with the case from E. Randol Schoenberg to Hubertus Czernin. Adele's Wish, released in 2008 by filmmaker Terrence Turner, features interviews with Altmann, Schoenberg, and leading experts from around the world. The Rape of Europa, a documentary about the Nazi plunder, also included material about Altman…
See also
• National Fund of the Republic of Austria for Victims of National Socialism
• Adele Bloch-Bauer German Wikipedia article
• Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer German Wikipedia article
• Jewess with Oranges
External links
• "Klimt: Adele's Last Will" on YouTube
• Adele's Wish
• Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling in Altmann v. Republic of Austria [forbidden link]
• Maria Altmann video testimony on USC Shoah Foundation Visual History Archive Online
Overview
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (also called The Lady in Gold or The Woman in Gold) is a painting by Gustav Klimt, completed between 1903 and 1907. The portrait was commissioned by the sitter's husband, Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer [de], a Jewish banker and sugar producer. The painting was stolen by the Nazis in 1941 and displayed at the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere. The portrait is th…
History and ownership
After exhibition at the Kunstschau, the portrait was hung at the Bloch-Bauer's Vienna residence. In 1912 Ferdinand commissioned a second painting of his wife, in which "the erotic charge of the likeness of 1907 has been spent", according to Whitford. In February 1918, Klimt suffered a stroke and was hospitalised; he caught pneumonia due to the worldwide influenza epidemic an…
Background
Gustav Klimt was born in 1862 in Baumgarten, near Vienna in Austria-Hungary. He attended the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts (German: Kunstgewerbeschule Wien) before taking on commissions with his brother, Ernst, and a fellow-student Franz von Matsch from 1879. Over the next decade, alongside several private commissions for portraiture, they painted interior murals and ceilings in large p…
The painting
In mid-1903 Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer commissioned Klimt to paint a portrait of his wife; he wished to give the piece to Adele's parents as an anniversary present that October. Klimt drew over a hundred preparatory sketches for the portrait between 1903 and 1904. The Bloch-Bauers purchased some of the sketches he had made of Adele when they obtained 16 Klimt drawings. In Dec…
Reception
Klimt exhibited his portrait at the 1907 Mannheim International Art Show, alongside the Portrait of Fritza Riedler (1906). Many of the critics had negative reactions to the two paintings, describing them as "mosaic-like wall-grotesqueries", "bizarre", "absurdities" and "vulgarities".
In 1908 the portrait was exhibited at the Kunstschau in Vienna where critical re…
Legacy
The history of the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I and the other paintings taken from the Bloch-Bauers has been recounted in three documentary films, Stealing Klimt (2007), The Rape of Europa (2007) and Adele's Wish (2008). The painting's history is described in the 2012 book The Lady in Gold: The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt's Masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, by the journalist Anne-Marie O'Connor. The history, as well as other stories of other stolen art, is told b…
See also
• Art repatriation
• List of most expensive paintings
External links
• stealingklimt.com
• Fortune article by Tyler Green about Ronald Lauder and the Neue Galerie's acquisition of the painting.
• Austrian Arbitral Award, "Maria V. Altmann and others v. Republic of Austria", 6 May 2006. (in German)
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