The Golden Lady
How the portrait of Adèle Bloch-Bauer I, robbed in Vienna in 1938, found the heirs of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer after the fight of Maria Altmann - and why the American Supreme Court itself did not order restitution.
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Who won, and before which court?
Maria Altmann, niece of Adèle Bloch-Bauer and heiress of Ferdinand, obtained the right to sue Austria in the United States in 2004. But ownership of the paintings was subsequently decided by an Austrian arbitral tribunal: its decision of January 15, 2006 imposed the restitution of five Klimts to Ferdinand's heirs.
The confusion comes from the film The Woman on the Board and abbreviated stories. In the judgment Republic of Austria v. Altmann, the United States Supreme Court answers a question of jurisdiction and sovereign immunity: the American Foreign State Immunity Act of 1976 could apply to older facts. It decides neither who owns the portrait nor that Austria should return it.
Adèle, Ferdinand and a misinterpreted testament phrase
Adèle Bauer married the sugar industrialist Ferdinand Bloch in 1899. The two families adopted the name Bloch-Bauer. In Vienna, their apartment brings together paintings, furniture, porcelain and modern artists. Ferdinand commissioned the first portrait of Adèle from Klimt, completed in 1907 after years of study.
Adèle died in 1925. In her will, she expressed the wish that Ferdinand bequeath the Klimts to the Austrian Gallery after his own death. This sentence will become the heart of the dispute. The determining point is, however, simpler: the works had been acquired and paid for by Ferdinand. Adèle could not legally dispose of property that she did not own. The arbitration will conclude that her formula constituted a moral request, not an obligation to donate.
For analysis of composition, gold, hands and patterns, see our supplementary file: Portrait of Adèle Bloch-Bauer I: analysis of the Golden Lady.
Nazi dispossession, then a disguised provenance
After the Anschluss of March 1938, Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, Jewish, fled Austria. His property was seized, inventoried and dispersed by the Nazi authorities. Klimt's paintings change hands in a system where punitive taxation, forced sale and confiscation merge.
The portrait then entered the Viennese public collections. Its title becomes common Golden Lady or Woman in Gold. This formula appears descriptive, but it erases the name of Adèle Bloch-Bauer, therefore the Jewish identity of the family and the precise history of the property.
After the war, Ferdinand tried to recover his property. He died in Switzerland in November 1945 and designated his brother and sister's children as heirs. Some of the works are returned, but the Klimts remain in Austria. For decades, museums relied on Adèle's will as if it established a legally perfect legacy.
Adèle's wish
She asks Ferdinand to give the Klimts after her death, without having the paintings herself.
Confiscation
Ferdinand flees Austria; his property is seized and his collection dispersed.
Heirs
Ferdinand dies in Switzerland. His will passes on his estate to his nephews and nieces.
Open archives
The new Austrian law and the work of Hubertus Czernin reveal the flaws in the official narrative.
Maria Altmann does not ask for "her aunt’s painting" at random
She acts as heir to Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, with other rights holders, against a property story that the archives had made untenable.
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Maria Viktoria Bloch-Bauer
Born in 1916, Maria is the daughter of Therese Bloch-Bauer, sister of Ferdinand. She grew up in contact with this family of collectors and saw the portrait in the private setting for which it had been commissioned.
With E. Randol Schoenberg
A refugee in the United States after fleeing Vienna, Maria lives in Los Angeles. At over eighty years old, she took the case with lawyer E. Randol Schoenberg to the Supreme Court, before the final arbitration in Austria.
This file does not turn a painting into a simple check for $135 million. It requires us to look together at a person, a family collection, persecution and the mechanisms by which a museum can preserve a work under an incomplete narrative.
Altmann Affair Historical Reading
The legal process in three decisions, not just one
The costs imposed by the Austrian procedure initially made the Viennese route difficult. Maria Altmann then initiated an action in California. Austria invokes its immunity. The case goes back to the Supreme Court, which delivered its judgment on June 7, 2004 by six votes to three.
The Court finds that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 can apply retroactively. In other words, Austria cannot dismiss the action simply because the facts date back to the 1930s and 1940s. The Court does not examine the merits of the title deed.
Court can hear case
The question concerns Austria's immunity and retroactive application of US law.
The merits are arbitrated
Austrian panel examines Adèle's property, will and restitution law of 1998.
She did not order the return
The restitution of the five Klimts results from the Austrian arbitration award of January 15, 2006.
Portrait's just one piece of a family ensemble
The sentence orders the return of five works by Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer. Seeing them together allows us to escape from the mere brilliance of gold and measure the importance of the collection.
The painting, which became "Golden Lady", finds its name and family origin.
Oil, gold and silver on canvas
The same model appears standing, in a floral and chromatic architecture without a dominant gold background.
See the second portrait
A carpet of tight leaves and trunks transforms the landscape into a vibrant surface.
Returned in 2006
The foliage almost absorbs space in a network of circular, colored spots.
Returned in 2006
Architecture, vegetation and almost square format make up a dense mosaic of Austrian lakes.
Returned in 2006The American complaint mentioned six paintings, but the landmark sentence concerns these five works from the Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer collection. Notices of provenance must therefore avoid transforming "six requested works" into "six returned works".
Los Angeles, New York and the record price
Returning does not necessarily mean keeping. The heirs then chose different destinations for the five paintings.
The five works were first presented at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art in the spring of 2006, then at the Neue Galerie in New York during the summer. In June 2006, Ronald S. Lauder purchased the first portrait for a reported $135 million, then a world record for a painting. The sale, negotiated with Christie's, allowed the painting to remain accessible to the public.
The portrait has since belonged to the Neue Galerie, a New York museum dedicated to German and Austrian art from the beginning of the 20th century. The museum insists on the full name of the model and the provenance. This choice symbolically reverses the anonymous title imposed on Vienna.
A restitution does not erase the story: it makes it readable
The Altmann affair has become a textbook case because it links international law, archives, museum ethics and family memory.
Name
Saying "Adèle Bloch-Bauer" rather than just "Golden Lady" restores the identity of the model.
Document
A complete notice distinguishes between order, ownership, seizure, public transfer, restitution and modern acquisition.
Nuance
Adèle's wish is not deleted: it is placed within the legal limits of what she owned.
Transmit
Exhibiting the work with its provenance transforms the museum into a place of memory, not a simple aesthetic safe.
Three ways of living with image
The visuals below are those of the store's product sheets. They are clearly separated from the photographs of the original kept at the museum.
FAITHFUL REPRODUCTIONPortrait of Adèle Bloch-Bauer IThe entire square format, the green border and the tension between flesh and gold.
See formats →
FACIAL DETAILAdèle up closeA tight composition to favor the face, jewelry and gold material.
Discover →
CONTEMPORARY CREATIONAdèle reimaginedA monumental work inspired by the icon, presented as reinterpretation and not as a copy.
See the work →Continue around Adèle and Klimt
These links correspond to the store's active collections and not to categories invented for the item.
Compare the golden square from 1907 to the colorful portrait from 1912.
Explore →9 WORKSNew New York GalleryWorks related to the New York museum collection.
Explore →42 WORKSPortraits of Gustav KlimtModels, dresses, ornamental backgrounds and Viennese society.
Explore →GOLDEN PERIODGold at KlimtPortraits and allegories where metal, mosaic and painting meet.
Explore →72 WORKSBelvedere of ViennaThe museum's historical collection at the heart of the file.
Explore →140 WORKSAll Gustav KlimtPortraits, landscapes, gardens, allegories and settings.
See the entire collection →The Golden Lady and Maria Altmann in 12 answers
Who is the Golden Lady?
This is Adèle Bloch-Bauer, Viennese patron and wife of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer. The full title is Portrait of Adèle Bloch-Bauer I.
Who owned the painting before 1938?
Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer had ordered and paid for the works. The arbitration concluded that Adèle was not the legal owner.
Had Adele bequeathed the portrait to Austria?
She had expressed the wish that Ferdinand would give it after his death. As she did not own it, this sentence was not a legally binding legacy.
Why was the painting called Woman in Gold?
This descriptive title obscured Adèle Bloch-Bauer's Jewish name and helped detach the work from her family history.
Who was Maria Altmann?
Born Maria Viktoria Bloch-Bauer in 1916, she was Adèle's niece and one of Ferdinand's heiresses. A refugee in the United States, she died in 2011.
Did the Supreme Court order restitution?
No. It decided in 2004 that the action against Austria could be heard. The return of the works was decided by the Austrian arbitration of January 2006.
How many works have been returned?
Five Klimts from the Bloch-Bauer collection: two portraits of Adèle and three landscapes.
When were the paintings returned?
The award dates from January 15, 2006. Austria announced its acceptance and the works were transferred to the heirs shortly after.
How much was the portrait sold for?
The 2006 sale to Ronald S. Lauder was generally reported at $135 million, a record at the time.
Where's the painting today?
At the Neue Galerie in New York. The museum has been temporarily closed since May 27, 2026 and plans to reopen in fall 2026.
Does the film tell the story exactly?
The Woman on the Board condenses years of proceedings and dramatizes certain episodes. It must be supplemented by the judgment, the sentence and the search for provenance.
Why is this matter important?
It shows that provenance does not stop at the name of a museum: it must document purchase, dispossession, circulation, restitution and subsequent acquisition.
Documents to check each step
The sources below clearly separate work notice, jurisdictional decision, arbitration and acquisition.
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