''Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II'' is a 1912 painting by

Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d'art. Klimt's pr ...

. The work is a portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer. Bloch-Bauer (1881–1925) was a

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

socialite, who was a patron and close friend of Klimt. In 1907, Klimt completed an earlier portrait of Bloch-Bauer. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, both portraits were among the artworks stolen by the Nazis from the descendants of Bloch-Bauer. After the war, ''Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II'' was displayed at the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere until 2006, when it was returned to Adele Bloch-Bauer's niece.

Ownership

Adele Bloch-Bauer was the wife of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, a wealthy industrialist who sponsored the arts and supported Gustav Klimt. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the only person whose portrait was painted twice by Klimt; she also appeared in the much more famous ''

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I ''Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I'' (also called ''The Lady in Gold'' or ''The Woman in Gold'') is a painting by Gustav Klimt, completed between 1903 and 1907. The portrait was commissioned by the sitter's husband, , a Jewish banker and sugar ...

''. 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 ''Republic of Austria v. Altmann'', 541 U.S. 677 (2004), was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, or FSIA, applies retroactively. It is one of the most recent cases that deals wi ...

'') ensued, which resulted in the two Adele Bloch-Bauer portraits and three other Gustav Klimt paintings being returned to Maria Altmann, the niece of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, in January 2006. In November 2006,

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is owned by Groupe Artémi ...

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. The buyer was

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', b ...

.Katya Kazakina (8 February 2017)
Oprah Said to Snag $150 Million Selling Klimt to Chinese Buyer
''

bloomberg.com Bloomberg News (originally Bloomberg Business News) is an international news agency headquartered in New York City and a division of Bloomberg L.P. Content produced by Bloomberg News is disseminated through Bloomberg Terminals, Bloomberg Televi ...

''. In the fall of 2014, ''Adele Bloch-Bauer II'' was given as a special long-term loan to the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. It plays a major role in developing and collecting modern art, and is often identified as one of t ...

in New York City. During the summer of 2016, Oprah Winfrey sold it to an unidentified Chinese buyer for $150 million. The painting was temporarily lent to

Neue Galerie New York The Neue Galerie New York (German for "New Gallery") is a museum of early twentieth-century German and Austrian art and design located in the William Starr Miller House at 86th Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City. Established in 2001, ...

for the exhibition “Klimt and the Women of Vienna’s Golden Age, 1900–1918.”Benjamin Sutton (8 February 2017)
Oprah Winfrey Sold Klimt Painting for $150M
'' hyperallergic.com''.

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''Adele's Wish''
{{Gustav Klimt 1912 paintings 20th-century portraits Paintings by Gustav Klimt Portraits by Austrian artists Arts set in Austria Jews and Judaism in Vienna Jews and Judaism in Austria

Ownership

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