Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II

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Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II: Gustave Klimt

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Art Type: Oil Painting
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Gustave Klimt Oil Painting - Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II

Keywords: Portrait, Adele, Bloch, Bauer

Work Overview: Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II
Artist Gustav Klimt
Year 1912
Medium Oil on canvas
Dimensions 190 cm × 120 cm (75 in × 47 in)
Location Private collection

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II is a 1912 painting by Gustav Klimt.
Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881–1925) was a refined art-loving Viennese salon lady, a patron and close friend of Gustav Klimt.

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II: A second portrait of Adele was subsequently commissioned and completed in 1912, making her the only model to be painted twice by Klimt. The Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II presents a more mature and dignified woman representative of Vienna’s elite. Dressed in an elegant outfit and sporting a somber expression, the subject is surrounded by abstract blocks of color and detailed patterns. The bursts of colors and patterns indicate the start of Klimt’s future colorful period, a notable example being the multicolored duvets features in the The Virgin.

Adele Bloch-Bauer was the wife of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer,[2] a wealthy industrialist who sponsored the arts and supported Gustav Klimt. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the only model to be painted twice by Klimt; she also appeared in the much more famous Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I. Adele's portraits had hung in the family home prior to their seizure by the Nazis during World War II. The Austrian museum where they resided after the war was reluctant to return them to their rightful owners, hence a protracted court battle in the United States and in Austria (see Republic of Austria v. Altmann) ensued, which resulted in five Gustav Klimt paintings being returned to Maria Altmann, the niece of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, in January 2006.

In November 2006, Christie's auction house sold Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II at auction for almost $88 million, the fourth-highest priced piece of art at auction at the time.[3] The buyer was Oprah Winfrey.[4]

In the fall of 2014, Adele Bloch-Bauer II was given as a special long-term loan to the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.[5] During the summer of 2016, Oprah Winfrey sold it to an unidentified Chinese buyer for $150 million.[4] The painting was temporarily lent to Neue Galerie for the exhibition “Klimt and the Women of Vienna’s Golden Age, 1900–1918.” It will appear in the Chinese buyer’s private museum after September 2017.

One of two formal portraits that Gustav Klimt made of Adele Bloch-Bauer, an important patron of the artist, is now on view at MoMA as a special long-term loan from a private collection. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the wife of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, a wealthy industrialist in Vienna, where Klimt lived and worked. Completed in 1912, the composition emphasizes Bloch-Bauer’s social station within Vienna’s cultural elite. Her towering figure, in opulent dress, is set against a jewel-toned backdrop of nearly abstract patterned blocks that suggest a richly decorated domestic interior. In 1938, the Nazis took possession of this portrait along with other works of art in the Bloch-Bauer family’s collection (including Adele Bloch-Bauer I, now in the collection of the Neue Galerie, New York). In 2006, after years of legal negotiations, the works were returned to the Bloch-Bauer heirs and subsequently sold to other collections. Adele Bloch-Bauer II is joined by a selection of works from the Museum’s collection.

Adele Bloch-Bauer II is a 1912 painting by Gustav Klimt. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the wife of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer,Born Ferdinand Bloch, the son of David Bloch (also known as Abraham Bloch), a banker and sugar factory owner, and his wife Marie, née Straschnow. Ferdinand married Adele Bauer, the daughter of Moritz Bauer (director of the Vienna bank Wiener Bankverein) and his wife Jeanette, née Honig. who was a wealthy industrialist who sponsored the arts and supported Gustav Klimt. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the only model to be painted twice by Klimt; she also appeared in the much more famous Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I. Both portraits of Adele Bloch-Bauer were part of a protracted court battle in the United States and in Austria (see Republic of Austria v. Altmann) which resulted in five Gustav Klimt paintings being returned to Maria Altmann, the niece of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, in January 2006. In November 2006, Christie's auction house sold "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II" at auction for almost $88 million, the fourth-highest priced piece of art at auction at the time.^ Christopher Michaud, Christie's stages record art sale, Reuter's, November 9, 2006. Accessed November 9, 2006.

Adele Bloch-Bauer II is a 1912 painting by Gustav Klimt. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the wife of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, who was a wealthy industrialist who sponsored the arts and supported Gustav Klimt. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the only model to be painted twice by Klimt; she also appeared in the much more famous Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I. Adele's portraits had hung in the family home prior to their seizure by the Nazis during WWII. The Austrian museum where they resided after the war was reluctant to return them to their rightful owners, hence a protracted court battle in the United States and in Austria (see Republic of Austria v. Altmann) ensued, which resulted in five Gustav Klimt paintings being returned to Maria Altmann, the niece of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, in January 2006. In November 2006, Christie's auction house sold Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II at auction for almost $88 million, the fourth-highest priced piece of art at auction at the time.

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Gustav Klimt‘s two portraits of Adele Bloch-Bauer were part of one of the biggest Nazi-looted art restitution cases in history. Now, the public will get a chance to see the two paintings side-by-side for the first time in a decade at New York’s Neue Galerie, where they will be reunited in “Klimt and the Women of Vienna’s Golden Age, 1900–1918” in September.

The more famous Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer (1907), nicknamed Woman in Gold for its dazzling use of lustrous gold embellishments, is a prime example of the artist’s “Golden Style.” It was the subject of the film of the same name starring Helen Mirren as Block-Bauer’s niece Maria Altmann and Ryan Reynolds as her lawyer in her fight to reclaim her aunt’s paintings.

After eight years, Altmann successfully won her legal battle with the Austrian government, and she and her family were granted ownership of the five Klimts. Bloch-Bauer was the only subject the artist ever painted twice in full length.

Following their victory, the family sold the works, and the Neue Galerie snapped up first Bloch-Bauer canvas at auction for $135 million in 2006, then a record sum. The other four paintings went to private buyers.

Adele Bloch-Bauer II (1912), a more conventional work in jewel tones, surfaced at New York’s Museum of Modern Art in September 2014, as part of a long-term loan.

In the upcoming exhibition, the two works will be shown alongside 12 paintings, 40 drawings, and 40 works of decorative art, as well as vintage photographs of Klimt. The museum has also commissioned Shanghai-based artist and designer Han Feng to create three one-of-a-kind outfits based on the designs of Viennese fashion designer Emilie Flöge, who was responsible for the clothes worn by many of Klimt’s subjects, including Bloch-Bauer in the iconic “Woman in Gold” painting.

While the two Bloch-Bauer works will be a highlight of the exhibition, she will share the stage with several other ladies who starred in Klimt’s major society portraits, including Gertha Loew (1902) and Mäda Primavesi (1912), as well as Szerena Lederer (1899) and her daughter Elisabeth Lederer (1914–16). Along with the the unfinished Portrait of Ria Munk III (1917), these works will demonstrate the evolution of Klimt’s portrait style throughout his career, showing his range from Symbolism and Pre-Raphaelite-inspired works to Fauvist-style depictions.

“Klimt and the Women of Vienna’s Golden Age, 1900–1918” will be on view at the Neue Galerie, 1048 Fifth Avenue, September 22, 2016–January 16, 2017.

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