''Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II'' is a 1912 painting by

Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt (14 July 1862 – 6 February 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and a founding member of the Vienna Secession movement. His work helped define the Art Nouveau style in Europe. Klimt is known for his paintings, murals, sket ...

. The work is a portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer (1881–1925), a

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

socialite who was a patron and close friend of Klimt. In 1907, Klimt completed an earlier portrait of Bloch-Bauer. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, both portraits were among the artworks stolen by the Nazis from the family of Bloch-Bauer. After the war, ''Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II'' was displayed at the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere until 2006, when it was returned to Adele Bloch-Bauer's niece

Maria Altmann Maria Altmann (née Maria Victoria Bloch, later Bloch-Bauer; February 18, 1916 – February 7, 2011) was an Austrian-American Jewish refugee from Austria, who fled her home country after it was annexed to the Nazi’s Third Reich. She is noted f ...

Ownership

Adele Bloch-Bauer was the wife of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, a wealthy industrialist who sponsored the arts and supported Gustav Klimt. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the only person whose portrait was painted twice by Klimt; she also appeared in the much more famous '' Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I''. Adele's portraits had hung in the family home prior to their seizure by the Nazis during World War II. The Austrian museum where they resided after the war was reluctant to return them to their rightful owners, hence a protracted court battle in the United States and in Austria (see '' Republic of Austria v. Altmann'') ensued, which resulted in the two Adele Bloch-Bauer portraits and three other Gustav Klimt paintings being returned to

, the niece of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, in January 2006. In November 2006,

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

auction house under New York Chairman Stephen Lash sold ''Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II'' at auction for almost $88 million, the fourth-highest priced piece of art at auction at the time. The buyer was

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American television presenter, talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show' ...

.Katya Kazakina (8 February 2017)
Oprah Said to Snag $150 Million Selling Klimt to Chinese Buyer
'' bloomberg.com''. The painting was temporarily lent to

Neue Galerie New York The Neue Galerie New York ( German for "New Gallery") is a museum of early twentieth-century German and Austrian art and design located in the William Starr Miller House at 86th Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City. Established in 2001, ...

for the exhibition "Klimt and the Women of Vienna’s Golden Age, 1900–1918", temporarily reuniting it with ''Portrait I.''Benjamin Sutton (8 February 2017)
Oprah Winfrey Sold Klimt Painting for $150M
'' hyperallergic.com''. In the fall of 2014, ''Adele Bloch-Bauer II'' was given as a special long-term loan to the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

in New York City. During the summer of 2016, Winfrey sold it to an unidentified Chinese buyer for $150 million.

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''Adele's Wish''
a documentary about the painting {{Gustav Klimt 1912 paintings 20th-century portraits Paintings by Gustav Klimt Portraits by Austrian artists Arts set in Austria Jews and Judaism in Vienna Jews and Judaism in Austria Portraits of women Oil on canvas paintings

Ownership

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