Klimt · portrait · Vienna 1912
Portrait of Adèle Bloch-Bauer II the second portrait without a gold background
After the golden icon of 1907, Klimt returned to Adèle Bloch-Bauer in 1912. This time, no more gold reliquary: a standing figure, a light dress, a wall of colors, flowers, Asian motifs and modernity more nervous.
The short answer
Adèle II is the portrait where Klimt leaves the golden icon for a pure color painting
The Portrait of Adèle Bloch-Bauer II was painted in 1912, five years after the famous Portrait of Adèle Bloch-Bauer I. The first painting transforms Adèle into a golden, almost Byzantine apparition. The second shows her standing, long, fragile and worldly, caught in a setting saturated with roses, greens, blues, floral motifs and Japanese echoes.
This is not a less luxurious “” version of the first portrait. It's another idea of Klimt: less material gold, more color; less reliquary, more rhythm; less still icon, more modern silhouette. The painting belongs to the moment when Klimt moves away from his golden period to explore a more expressive surface.
You also have to look at the work with its 20th century history. Like several paintings in the Bloch-Bauer collection, it was at the heart of a major restitution in 2006. Today it is generally reported as belonging to a private collection, so it is not an easy work to see in museum.
I · Two portraits of the same woman
Adèle I is an icon. Adèle II is a modern apparition.
The two paintings not only tell the story of Adèle Bloch-Bauer. They show two moments of Klimt: the golden climax of 1907, then the shift towards the decorative and expressive color of 1912.
Adèle Bloch-Bauer I
Face and hands emerge from a gold surface, spirals, eyes, rectangles and signs. The portrait almost becomes a Viennese icon.
Adèle Bloch-Bauer II
The dress, pose and floral decor take over from the gold. Wealth comes from color, not a metallic background.
| Appearance | Adèle Bloch-Bauer I | Adèle Bloch-Bauer II |
|---|---|---|
| Date | 1907 | 1912 |
| Dominant effect | Golden icon, frontality, sacralization | Standing silhouette, colorful decor, modern elegance |
| Background | Gold, geometric and Byzantine patterns | Flowers, colorful patterns, Asian resonances |
| Reading | The portrait blends into the precious surface | Body stands out from living decorative field |
II · Color and surface
A portrait constructed by contrasts
In Adèle II, Klimt does not seek realistic depth. The painting advances in layers: pale color, light skin, floral background, flat colored areas, decorative signs. The eye does not sink into space; it circulates on the surface.
Red and pink activate the background, green balances the dress, blues cool the scene, while the face maintains an almost immobile presence. It is this tension that makes the painting so special: Adèle seems both placed in front of us and absorbed by the decor.
The disappearance of the large gold background therefore does not make the painting any less “Klimt”. It makes another richness visible: that of a painting which thinks of the portrait as textile, garden and mental scene.
III · Visual gallery
See around Adèle II: women, dresses, museums and Vienna 1900
To understand the second portrait, it must be placed with Klimt's female portraits, places of conservation and Viennese decorative culture.
Adèle II in full
The height of the format is essential: the long silhouette gives the portrait its rhythm.
Emilie Flöge
Another slender figure where dress, pose and surface become almost architectural.
Mäda Primavesi
Late portraits often replace gold with a more vivid, floral and colorful decor.
Eugenia Primavesi
Another client of modern Vienna: the portrait becomes a complete decorative space.
Amalie Zuckerkandl
The portrait shows Klimt's late method: face, dress and decor are gradually constructed.
New New York Gallery
The Neue Galerie today preserves the first portrait of Adèle, which has become one of Klimt's most famous images.
Belvedere, Vienna
A major place for Klimt, even if Adèle II is not visible there as a permanent work.
The Secession
The aesthetic context of Klimt: decor, architecture, Viennese modernity and break with academicism.
IV · Real photos
The real places to place Adèle II in the world of Klimt
The second portrait is not just an isolated image. It belongs to a very concrete network: Vienna, workshops, museums, the Secession, collectors and places where we still meet Klimt today.
Neue Gallery
The Neue Galerie preserves Adèle Bloch-Bauer I. It is the place of reference for understanding the international fame of the golden portrait.
Belvedere
The Belvedere remains an essential passage to see Klimt in Vienna and understand the Austrian context of the collections.
The Secession Pavilion
The building provides the mental setting for Klimt: a break with academicism, ornament, architecture and modernity.
Klimt-Villa
Klimt's latest workshop helps imagine the daily work behind the late portraits and large preparatory drawings.
The Workshop Garden
A valuable place to understand Klimt's taste for floral surfaces, plant motifs and backgrounds that seem to grow around the figures.
Reconstructed living room
The interior reminds us that Klimt works in a world of models, fabrics, designs, screens and decorative objects.
Albertina
The Albertina is one of the great places to understand the role of drawing in Klimt: before the painted portrait, there are often dozens of studies.
Burgtheater
Early decorative commissions explain part of Klimt: his sense of surface also comes from architecture and monumental decor.
V · Restitution
The portrait also belongs to the history of looted works
Adèle II was one of the Klimt paintings from the Bloch-Bauer collection returned to the heirs in 2006, after a long legal battle that became emblematic.
Bloch-bauer Collection
Ferdinand and Adèle Bloch-Bauer belong to the great Viennese Jewish world which collects Klimt and supports modernity.
An inappropriate story
The paintings enter a long-contested history of confiscation, museums and family memory.
Restitution
The five Klimt Bloch-Bauers are returned to the heirs. Adèle II is then associated with the market and private collections.
Things to know for visitors
Unlike Adèle Bloch-Bauer I, visible at the Neue Galerie in New York, Adèle Bloch-Bauer II not generally presented as a work permanently accessible to the public.
Shop
Continue with Klimt: gold, portraits and Art Nouveau
Adèle II naturally leads to the Klimt collections, female portraits, golden paintings and Art Nouveau.
Sources
Reliable sources used
Museum notices, Klimt Database file, Christie's and Wikimedia Commons to document the work, its period and its history of restitution.
Five paintings from the Bloch-Bauer collection
Landmarks on the five restored Klimts and the second portrait.
Klimt DatabaseExpressive Blaze of Colors
Analysis of the stylistic turning point of 1910 -1913: farewell to gold, more expressive colors.
Christie'sWoman in Gold
Background to the Bloch-Bauer collection and restitution history.
Wikimedia CommonsPortrait of Adèle II
Visual source of the main work, then imported to the Shopify CDN.
Neue GalleryKlimt and Adele Bloch-Bauer
Context on Adèle, Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer and the first portrait.
Christie'sRestored works
Landmarks on Adèle II and the Klimt landscapes in the history of the market after restitution.
Frequently asked questions
Understand everything about Adèle Bloch-Bauer II
Who is Adèle Bloch-Bauer?
Adèle Bloch-Bauer is a Viennese patron and model of Gustav Klimt. She is the only woman of whom Klimt painted two official portraits.
When did Klimt paint Adele Bloch-Bauer II?
The second portrait was painted in 1912, five years after the famous golden portrait of 1907.
Why do we say this portrait is without a gold background?
Because it does not take up the large golden background of the first portrait. Klimt replaces the icon effect with floral and colorful decor.
Where to see the Portrait of Adèle Bloch-Bauer II?
The work is generally indicated as belonging to a private collection. It is therefore not permanently visible in a museum.
What is the link with the Bloch-Bauer restitution?
Adèle II was part of the Klimt paintings returned to the Bloch-Bauer heirs in 2006, with the first portrait and several landscapes.
What is the difference with Adèle Bloch-Bauer I?
Adèle I is dominated by gold and the icon effect. Adèle II favors silhouette, textiles, flowers and expressive color.
Adele II is not the shadow of the golden portrait: it is the moment when Klimt replaces gold with a celebration of colors.
The painting retains luxury, but it moves it. He no longer locks Adèle in an icon: he makes her appear in a garden of modern motifs.
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