Klimt's Adele Bloch-Bauer II: A Figure Among Patterns

Adele Bloch-Bauer stands almost the full height of the picture. Her broad black hat frames her face, while her pale clothes form a long vertical shape against blocks of red, green and pink. Begin with her face. Then follow that pale shape down through the painting and notice how often a new pattern interrupts it.

Gustav Klimt completed this second formal portrait of Adele in 1912. MoMA describes her as an important patron of the artist and the wife of the Viennese industrialist Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer.^[1] The painting brings a person and a richly decorated setting together without letting either disappear into the other.

Follow the standing figure

Look at the width of the hat, then compare it with Adele's shoulders. Its dark oval makes her face easier to find among the surrounding colours. Below it, the pale blouse, dark waistband and layered fabric break the body into a succession of contrasting areas.

Find her hands. One hangs at her side; the other crosses in front of her clothing. Follow the edge of the outer garment beside them. Some edges hold the figure apart from the background, while others become harder to follow where patterned fabric meets patterned surroundings. Try tracing the whole outline without looking away.

A direct encounter

Frank Whitford reads the second portrait as showing character with a degree of psychological insight. He also draws attention to the central figure and frontal pose.^[2] Look at Adele's face and the direction of her gaze, then consider how that central position affects your encounter with her.

Anne-Marie O'Connor contrasts this portrait with the earlier one, describing a more mature and direct Adele in her chapter on Klimt's women.^[3] Bring that reading back to details you can see: the upright stance, the face beneath the hat and the hands held close to the body. Which detail gives you the strongest sense of a particular person?

Patterns behind and beneath her

The background changes as your eyes move down. The upper red area contains small figures and other decorative forms. A green area with flowers runs behind much of Adele's body. Near her feet, circular and curling shapes spread across a different field of colour.

MoMA describes these patterned blocks as suggesting a richly decorated domestic interior.^[1] Rather than trying to identify every small form immediately, compare their sizes and spacing. Some make dense clusters; others leave room around them. Adele's body gives this shifting arrangement a centre to return to.

The portrait and its restitution

The painting's history extends beyond its sitter and artist. MoMA records that the Nazis took possession of the portrait and other works in the Bloch-Bauer family's collection in 1938.^[1] The University of Geneva's case account describes Ferdinand's flight from Austria and the confiscation of his property, then follows the heirs' later attempts to recover the paintings.^[5]

The original arbitration award, dated 15 January 2006, names Adele Bloch-Bauer II among five paintings whose return to Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer's heirs met the applicable restitution requirements.^[4] MoMA records the portrait's return to the Bloch-Bauer heirs in 2006 and its subsequent sale.^[1] Knowing that history brings the people behind the ownership record into view alongside the painted figure.

Keeping the two portraits distinct

This is the 1912 portrait, Adele Bloch-Bauer II. The broad black hat, standing figure and colourful patterned surroundings give it a distinctive composition. MoMA identifies it as one of two formal portraits Klimt made of Adele.^[1]

Return to the face, then the hands, then the patterns. After following the portrait's history, does the figure hold your attention differently? You can approach the painting through its composition and its ownership story, moving between close looking and the lives connected with the work.