Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I is a painting by Gustav Klimt completed in 1907. In June 2006 it sold for ^*]135 million to Ronald Lauder for his Neue Galerie in New York City making it the most expensive painting ever sold. It has been on display at the gallery since July 2006. Klimt took three years to complete the painting. It measures 138 x 138 cm and is made of oil and gold on canvas, showing elaborate and complex ornamentation as seen in the Jugendstil style. Klimt was a member of the Vienna Secession, a group of artists that broke away from the traditional way of painting. The painting was judged to be pivotal and revolutionary, akin to Picasso’s Les Demoiselles d'Avignon of the same year. Artistic discussion The picture was painted in Vienna and commissioned by Ferdinand Bloch-BauerFerdinand Bloch-Bauer was 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. When Ferdinand married Adele, both adopted the surname Bloch-Bauer.. As a wealthy industrialist who had made his fortune in the sugar industry, he sponsored the arts and favored and supported Gustav Klimt. His wife Adele Bloch-Bauer became the only model who was painted twice by Klimt when he completed a second picture of her, Adele Bloch-Bauer II, in 1912. Adele Bloch-Bauer had indicated in her will that Klimt's paintings should be donated to the Austrian State Gallery.Last Will 1923 She died in 1925 from meningitis. When the Nazis took over Austria, her widowed husband had to flee to Switzerland. His property, including the Klimt paintings, was confiscated. In his 1945 testament, Bauer-Bloch designated his nephew and nieces, including Maria Altmann, as the inheritors of his estate.Bloch-Bauer 1945 testament

As Bauer-Bloch's pictures had remained in Austria, the government took the position that the testament of Adele Bloch-Bauer had determined that these pictures were to stay there. After a protracted court battle in the United States and in Austria (see Republic of Austria v. Altmann), binding arbitration by the Austrian court established in 2006 that Maria Altmann was the rightful owner of this and four other paintings by Klimt.List and Pictures of Klimt Paintings ("Amalie" not part of the five pictures), Photo of Adele Bloch-Bauer, Photo of Klimt The decision was received in Austria with dismay. After the pictures were sent to America, they were on display in Los Angeles in 2006 before the portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer was sold to Lauder.

The painting will be a centerpiece in Ronald Lauder’s collection for his Neue Gallerie in New York. This collection has for years attempted to recover Jewish-owned art, mostly from Germany and Austria, that had been confiscated or looted by the Nazi government. Lauder worked towards this goal as the US ambassador to Austria, as a member of the “World Jewish Restitution Organization", and as a member of a Clinton commission to examine cases of Nazi looting. Lauder’s comment on the acquisition for his Neue Gallerie collection: “This is our Mona Lisa”.Quote

See also

• List of most expensive paintings

References