The Lady In Gold The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt's Masterpiece, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer

by Anne-Marie O'Connor

The compelling history behind the iconic portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer by Gustav Klimt

I got this book as a used copy after reading the German novel "Die Dame in Gold" (Valerie Trierweiler) and watching the film "The Woman in Gold" (2015), starring Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds as Maria Altmann and the lawyer Randy Schoenberg (see link to trailer underneath). In the movie Maria Altmann, the niece of Adele who fled to America as Jewish refugee during the Nazi occupation of Vienna, approaches Randy Schoenberg about 60 years later to help her reclaim her aunt's portrait. Her aunt was painted in a portrait of beautiful golden radiance by the famous artist Gustav Klimt in 1907 during his so called "Golden Phase". During the Holocaust the Nazis stole the artwork. Together, Maria and Randy take on the Austrian government to recover the famous artwork.

The end of the movie brought me to tears and I was fascinated by the art of Gustav Klimt, the personality of Adele Bloch-Bauer and the era they lived in. I had to read more about it.

"Each stolen painting had a story, and each story raised pressing moral questions"

The book was perfect for that. You will learn a lot more about Klimt and his art, the Bloch-Bauer family, Vienna before the war, the atrocities of the Nazi occupation and war, and finally how the painting was reclaimed and brought to New York. The book is excellently researched and well written and I especially liked how it sets the reader back into the time of the old Vienna, its Art circles, literary meetings and Jewish society of the time and how it portraits the power of art. The author captures history in a book.

(Movieclips, Youtube (2015)