The Lady in Gold

Washington Post journalist AnneMarie O'Connor tells the galvanizing story of Adele Bloch-Bauer, the dazzling Viennese Jewish socialite immortalized in Klimt's 1907 portrait. Decades later, Nazis confiscated the portrait from the family, called it The Lady in Gold to erase all connection to its Jewish subject, and proudly exhibited it in Vienna's Baroque Belvedere Palace. Sixty years later, ownership of the portrait became the subject of a decadelong dispute between the Austrian government and the BlochBauer heirs. The U.S. Supreme Court became involved in the case, and its decision had profound ramifications in the art world. The Lady in Gold is at once a stunning portrait of finde siecle Vienna, a wrenching tale of Nazi war crimes, and a fascinating glimpse into the highstakes workings of the contemporary art world.