Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I
Gustav Klimt1907Oil and gold leaf on canvas
Known as the Austrian Mona Lisa, this gold-drenched portrait was looted by the Nazis from the Jewish Bloch-Bauer family in the 1940s. After a landmark legal battle, it was returned to Maria Altmann in 2006 and sold for $135 million — then the highest price ever paid for a painting.
Color Mood
Transcendently golden. More gold than any painting in Western art — Klimt dissolves his subject into an ornamental field of gold leaf that is simultaneously portrait and icon.
Neue Galerie, New York (returned to family after Nazi looting)
Primary Colors
The dominant colors that define the overall mood and atmosphere of the work.
Secondary Colors
Supporting colors that add depth, contrast, and visual interest.
Tertiary Colors
Accent and detail colors that complete the composition.
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