Adele Bloch-Bauer THE WOMAN IN GOLD Painting

The Woman in Gold, also known as The Mona Lisa of Austria, is my adaptation of Gustav Klimt’s masterpiece. Having admired the symbolic art of Klimt since my working days as a fine art restorer at Vienna’s prestigious Conservation Institute (Bundesdenkmalamt) in the 1980’s, I conceived the idea to recreate the jewel of his gilded period with an interpretive lens on the looming darkness of the Holocaust and World War II. As a native of Austria, Salzburg, I have developed an appreciation for Klimt’s art, and Art Nouveau in general. For the last thirty years, I have lived in New York City and worked as a fine art restorer, conservator and a painter as well as in the healing arts. Klimt had executed The Woman in Gold in the span of four years (1903-1907). My own creative process during 2014-2017, reflects my diligent care and thoroughness in rendering the original painting. In 2014, I started with the preparation of the canvas using Klimt’s original size of 54 x 54 inches (167 x 167 cm). For gesso, I used the traditional method of rabbit skin glue and chalk. For the painting, I used oil paints and genuine 23.5 karat gold in various shades, as well as silver leaves, to magnify the brilliant sheen of Klimt’s gold-enshrined muse and model, Adele Bloch-Bauer. The portraiture of Bloch-Bauer in her ornate cape resembles numerous European Schutzmantel-Madonnas (Madonna with the sheltering mantle) paintings from earlier periods.The Schutzmantel-Madonnas sculptures and paintings symbolically depict a safe haven for the rich and poor alike. For me, the souls of the Jews and victims killed in World War II may have finally found solace and peace in Adele’s mantle. My empathy for the unspeakable sufferings of the Holocaust’s victims is seen in my added artistic statement to Klimt’s original: juxtaposed against the golden aura of Adele are the black and white photographic images depicting the victims of the Holocaust. As a feminist, I use my paintings and healing artwork to create a vision of social justice and safety for all. I foresee a future that respects the feminine with the same reverie invoked by Klimt’s golden, glistening Madonna.