Adele Bloch-Bauer I Gustav Klimt (1862-1918)

Description of Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer I (Golden Adele)

"Golden Adele" is Gustav’s most significant painting. The portrait of the Austrian Mona Lisa earned it scandalous fame. In 2006, it was sold for a whopping one hundred million dollars. U.S. DOLLARS. In 2015, a film "The woman in gold" was made about this canvas.

The painting depicting Adele Bloch-Bauer was created under the influence of Byzantine art. The artist was inspired by Byzantine art after a visit to Venice and Ravenna. After visiting the churches, he transferred the style and manner of decorating church mosaics in gold to his paintings.

The artist depicted Adele using predominantly cold tones. The face, the hands stand out spectacularly among the other episodes of the painting. The portrait can be divided into two parts (vertically): on the right side is Adele, on the left the canvas is empty, with only a faint hint of domesticity. At the bottom of the canvas, the artist has positioned the hem of Adele’s dress.

Klimt was not afraid to experiment with the variety of techniques used in painting. He was looking for new looks for his works.

In 1907, the portrait of "Golden Adele" was exhibited in the painter’s studio in Austria. In 1910 it was exhibited in Italy. Later, the Bloch-Bauer family did not exhibit the canvas until 1918. During the war in Europe, Hitler did not take the painting into his collection - Adele was born Jewish. Therefore, such a painting could not be in the Reichstag or in Nazi Germany in general.

Adele Bloch-Bauer bequeathed after her death all paintings to the Austrian Gallery. Unfortunately, today it is no longer possible to fulfill the will of the woman in gold - all the paintings have been sold to private collections.