A gold-leaf portrait recovered through one of the most consequential restitution cases of the twentieth century.
Artist
Gustav Klimt
Date
1907
Medium
Oil, silver and gold leaf on canvas
Dimensions
140 × 140 cm
Location
Neue Galerie, New York
History
What the record shows
Seized by the Nazis in 1938 and displayed in Vienna for decades as an Austrian national symbol.
Restituted to Maria Altmann in 2006 after arbitration, then sold to Ronald Lauder. The metal leaf is lift-prone, so the surface is never touched and the canvas travels face-vertical.
Provenance
Chain of ownership
01Commissioned by Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, Vienna, 1907
02Confiscated by the Nazi authorities, 1938
03Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, 1941–2006
04Restituted to the Bloch-Bauer heirs, 2006; Neue Galerie, New York
