When, in 2006, Ronald Lauder, billionaire philanthropist, former US ambassador to Austria and son of cosmetics queen Estée Lauder, handed over $135 million for a Gustav Klimt portrait he wanted for his Neue Galerie in New York, it was the highest amount that had ever been paid for a painting. Although this record has since been broken for works by Gauguin, Cézanne and Picasso, among others, at the time it was greeted with amazement, and not just because of the eye-popping price.
The story of the battle to win back the Nazi-looted portrait of Viennese society hostess Adele Bloch-Bauer, painted in 1907 and known now as The Woman in Gold, on behalf of its heirs living in America, had already mesmerised the art world.
Lauder’s purchase was the thrilling climax of a tale that had acquired the status of a
Hollywood drama.
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