''Stealing Klimt'' is a 2007 documentary film about

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 ...

's attempt to recover five

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 ...

paintings stolen from her family by the

Nazis Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

in 1938, from Austria.http://www.stealingklimt.com ''The Stealing Klimt Story'' from the ''Stealing Klimt'' DVD. It formed the inspiration for the 2015 movie, '' Woman in Gold'', and received a credit to that effect ("Inspired by the documentary, ''Stealing Klimt''"). The paintings included '' Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I'', the portrait of Altmann's aunt, Adele Bloch-Bauer, which had been renamed the ''Woman in Gold''. ''Stealing Klimt'' recounts Altmann's youth in early 20th century Vienna, her escape from the Nazis, and her struggle to recover the five paintings. Altmann selected Randol Schoenberg, a Californian lawyer with an Austrian background, to represent her in her legal quest to recover the five Klimts. Altmann and Schoenberg were assisted by Hubertus Czernin, an Austrian journalist who had previously investigated and revealed the World War II activities of

Kurt Waldheim Kurt Josef Waldheim (21 December 1918 – 14 June 2007) was an Austrian politician and diplomat. Waldheim was the Secretary-General of the United Nations#List of secretaries-general, secretary-general of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981 a ...

, former

President of Austria The president of Austria () is the head of state of the Austria, Republic of Austria. The office of the president was established in 1920 by the Constituent National Assembly (Austria), Constituent National Assembly of the First Austrian Repu ...

and

UN Secretary General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

. Altmann's legal battle eventually ended up in the

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

where she had to face not only Austria but also the US State Department. The US Supreme Court gave jurisdiction over Austria and an Austrian arbitration panel then decided that the five paintings belonged to her. Ronald Lauder paid $135 million for the ''Woman in Gold'' to hang in his Neue Galerie in New York. The other paintings were sold through

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 ...

to private buyers.

References

External links

* * 2007 films Art and cultural repatriation after World War II Holocaust films Gustav Klimt 2000s English-language films {{hist-documentary-film-stub