The Lady in Gold

The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt's Masterpiece, 'Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer'

By: Anne-Marie O'Connor

Narrated by: Coleen Marlo

Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

"The Lady in Gold", a portrait considered an unforgettable masterpiece, one of the 20th century's most recognizable paintings, made headlines all over the world when Ronald Lauder bought it for $135 million a century after Klimt, the most famous Austrian painter of his time, completed the society portrait.

Anne-Marie O'Connor, writer for the Washington Post, formerly of the Los Angeles Times, tells the galvanizing story of the Lady in Gold, Adele Bloch-Bauer, a dazzling Viennese Jewish society figure; daughter of the head of one of the largest banks in the Hapsburg Empire, head of the Oriental Railway, whose Orient Express went from Berlin to Constantinople; wife of Ferdinand Bauer, sugar-beet baron.

The Bloch-Bauers were art patrons, and Adele herself was considered a rebel of fin de siècle Vienna (she wanted to be educated, a notion considered “degenerate” in a society that believed women being out in the world went against their feminine "nature"). The author describes how Adele inspired the portrait and how Klimt made more than a hundred sketches of her - simple pencil drawings on thin manila paper.

And O'Connor writes of Klimt himself, son of a failed gold engraver, shunned by arts bureaucrats, called an artistic heretic in his time, a genius in ours. She writes of the Nazis confiscating the portrait of Adele from the Bloch-Bauers' grand palais; of the Austrian government putting the painting on display, stripping Adele's Jewish surname from it so that no clues to her identity (nor any hint of her Jewish origins) would be revealed. Nazi officials called the painting, "The Lady in Gold" and proudly exhibited it in Vienna's Baroque Belvedere Palace, consecrated in the 1930s as a Nazi institution.

The author writes of the painting, inspired by the Byzantine mosaics Klimt had studied in Italy, with their exotic symbols and swirls, the subject an idol in a golden shrine. We see how, 60 years after it was stolen by the Nazis, the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer became the subject of a decade-long litigation between the Austrian government and the Bloch-Bauer heirs, how and why the U.S. Supreme Court became involved in the case, and how the Court's decision had profound ramifications in the art world.

In this book listeners will find riveting social history; an illuminating and haunting look at turn-of-the-century Vienna; a brilliant portrait of the evolution of a painter; a masterfully told tale of suspense. And at the heart of it, The Lady in Gold - the shimmering painting, and its equally irresistible subject, the fate of each forever intertwined.

©2012 Anne-Marie O'Connor (P)2012 Tantor

Critic reviews

"O'Connor resurrects fascinating individuals and tells a many-faceted, intensely affecting, and profoundly revelatory tale of the inciting power of art and the unending need for justice." ( Booklist)

Compelling and revealing

Brought such new personal dimension to a long and often distressing story of WW 1 & 2 through the experience of art

complicated

I felt sad for the families but was disappointed they sold the paintings. might have been easier to read. many characters in story.

Fascinating tragic story of Adele Bloch Bauer

The story of the Lady in Gold is told through the works of Gustav Klimt and the history of the Bloch-Bauer and other prominent Jewish families of Vienna. The book is well written and captured my imagination placing me in 20th century Vienna during WWII and the present. I would recommend the book.

The history of art and war

The history of this painting is interesting. There are so many people involved that I sometimes lost track of who they all were. The narration seemed a little rushed

The Lady in Gold

The readers voice was sped up or read so fast it was hard to follow. Voice was good and had a clarity of punctuation in names locations, etc, just to fast.

Story had so many facts it was overwhelming and cumbersome.

Storyline was extremely interesting. I attend many museums around the world. Wish I could go see the paintings in life.

This is fantastic!

I really love this book. It's just as good as the movie. I look forward to finishing it.

Ansloosch?

I thoroughly enjoyed the well-researched story, but the reader absolutely slaughtered the German words that were frequently included in the text. The reader doesn't have to be fluent in German, but I believe the producers of such an audio book have a responsibility to at least ensure that a world used as often as "Anschluss" is in this book is pronounced properly, that Adolph is not pronounced "Aldoph", etc.

Q

Yes, I really did appreciate it being a true story. I believe those that are interested in European art history especially middle European art of the late 1800s and early 1900s. The Natzi

treatment of the Jews was different than any I had read before. Many many personal stories.

Historical synopsis of WWII Vienna

Interesting insight on the disposition of renowned Viennese art pieces following WWII. Atrocities and the wars impact on Jewish families are revealed.

Terrible narrator for a great book

If you could sum up The Lady in Gold in three words, what would they be?

fascinating, intriguing content

What other book might you compare The Lady in Gold to and why?

The hare with the amber eye -- both books deal with art and war and offer a lot for the imagination.

What didn’t you like about Coleen Marlo’s performance?

She rushed through the narration. With a good narrator, the listener would be able to savor the words. This is a book that sparks the imagination, but the hastily read language does not allow the mind the freedom to explore. It sounded like the narrator is paid by the book, and she read as fast as possible to get through it.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No, I like to savor my books.

Any additional comments?

I would buy this again with a different narrator.