In 1998, the Austrian government announced it would return works of art that had been plundered by the Nazis to their rightful owners. Numerous court battles followed, as documented on the site set up by the law firm. These bland documents conceal the struggle of an octogenarian concentration camp survivor to reclaim her family's heritage, and the historical and artistic richness of the paintings in question.
The Arbitration Court ruled in January 2006 that the Klimt paintings should be restored without charge to the Bloch-Bauer heirs. The paintings, the Birkenwald/Buchenwald (1903), Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907), Adele Bloch-Bauer II (1912), Apfelbaum (ca. 1912) and Häuser in Unterach am Attersee (ca. 1916), went on display at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in April.
Christie's helped broker a private sale to Ronald Lauder and the Neue Galerie, a museum dedicated to early twentieth-century German and Austrian art. The price exceeds that for any other painting sold thus far, coming in at about $135 million, although this has not been confirmed to the cent. The LACMA had about the same amount on offer for all five paintings, with the additional promise of keeping them together. The set will now be broken up, and in effect, sold to the highest bidder.
Thus does commerce triumph over art, and Mercury, the Latin god of commerce, merchants and thieves, outwits Jupiter, or Zeus. By Jove!
Article comments
1 - Duke De Mondo
Aaman, this was tremendous! tremendous, i say!
2 - Aaman
Thanks, we try:)
3 - Snarkattack
Bloody good piece, truly. It makes me want to pull out my art books and listen to German expressionist song cycles again, ah those wacky days at uni...
Some fellow lipgloss-addict co-conspirators informed me that this work was actually purchased by Lauder just before reading your article, and I have to say, I'm really glad that the dough I spent on lipgloss went towards funding this magnificent work, and thus my love for modernism and lipgloss are fused, if you'll permit me such a shallow comment.
4 - arspoetica
The problem with blogs and their unqualified commentators continues to be their strange notion of fact and truth -- "an octogenarian concentration camp survivor"? Where did you get this fabrication? Although Mrs. Altmann's husband was imprisoned at Dachau (for ransom), she has never claimed incarceration; so why do you?
5 - shnstl
I am very surprised that Mr. Lauder is allowing the painting to be made available to the American public. This gesture is very decent and will provide many viewers with the opportunity to see something spectacular.