Painted Ladies: Adele Bloch-Bauer, Gustav Klimt’s “Woman In Gold”

She was the Mona Lisa of Austria – her mysterious beauty enthralled everyone who saw her. For years, she was simply called the Woman in Gold – her portrait seen as testament to the genius of the artist, Gustav Klimt. As for the woman herself, she was assumed to be his lover: her inscrutable expression hinted at love, or perhaps a jaded weariness of the society world which she inhabited. This nameless beauty watched over us as we speculated about her life and loves, until the mystery behind her identity – and the darker secrets surrounding her fate – were revealed. When I first saw this painting in Austria, I was fascinated by her- even though she was resplendent in gold, like a religious idol, you could tell she was a woman the artist knew well – not a saint of legend. Her pose, her finery, and her gaze at the viewer showed that she was a wealthy woman who knew who she was – and if you knew her, you’d likely not forget her. But even if there were postcards of her everywhere in Vienna, her very existence was evidence of a crime. Adele Bloch-Bauer’s Charmed Life Adele Bloch-Bauer (…)