Ferdinand bloch bauer biography of william hill

“The Woman in Gold” is the popular name for one of two Klimt portraits of Adele Bloch-Bauer, Maria Altmann's aunt and the wife of.

Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer 16 July — 13 November was an Austrian banker and sugar business magnate who owned one of the most extensive art collections in Europe, most of which was looted by the Nazis during the Anschluss. He worked his way into the family business in Prague in before becoming director of the company in After wedding the notable socialite and patron of the arts Adele Bloch-Bauer in , the couple moved to the 4th district of Vienna , where they expanded their art collection of paintings, sculpture, and classic Viennese porcelain that rivaled any museum in Europe.

Ferdinand began commissioning the most sought after painter in Austria at that time, Gustav Klimt , to paint pictures of Adele, who became the only woman to have two full length portraits done by the artist. Adele died in of Meningitis at the age of One of Ferdinand's last art acquisitions was a portrait his friend Oskar Kokoschka painted of him in After the Anschluss in March , most of Ferdinand's art collection was looted and he was exiled from Austria for his Jewish genealogy.

He eventually landed in Switzerland, where he died nearly penniless in At the time she was "entirely unaware" of the pending horror that would come when the Nazis annexed Austria in When Ferdinand was forced to flee Austria just a few days before Kristallnacht , he had to leave the painting of Adele and other works from Gustav Klimt behind.

Just as the will had instructed, the portrait was gifted to the Austrian Gallery, in Over a half century later, in , Austrian investigative journalist Hubertus Czernin was permitted access to records at the Austrian Gallery in Vienna. He began publishing articles about the "suspicious" ownership of Adele's portrait and four other Klimts.

I have been Adele Bloch-.

One of his finds was the will of Ferdinand, who died twenty years after Adele, indicating his heirs, including his niece Maria Altmann , were to receive all the paintings. Since he had paid for the works, his will had now essentially rendered Adele's will obsolete. Czernin's articles and his startling discovery paved the way for Maria and her lawyer E.

Randol Schoenberg to launch a nearly decade long legal battle to gain rightful ownership of the Bloch-Bauer estate.