Woman in Gold

Last night we saw Woman In Gold and were amazed how our own histories were linked with the movie.  No, we weren't Austrian Jews in the Second World War as was Maria Altmann, who fought for ten years to retrieve her Aunt Adele's portrait painted by Gustav Klimt from the Belvedere Palace/Museum in Vienna.

We spent four summers in Vienna and the Klimt collection at the Belvedere was a favorite, as was the palace itself.  One summer, Tom and I waltzed our way through all palace ballrooms, including the Belvedere's.  We first saw Adele's portrait, Woman in Gold, in the late nineties and three more times after that.

In 2006, we moved to NYC in May and the Neue Galerie announced it had bought the painting from Maria Altmann.  It began exhibiting it in July that same year.  We made our way there to pay homage and discovered the museum's Cafe Sabarsky, which is as close to sitting in a Viennese Cafe as you can get in New York--(fabulous views across 5th Avenue to the park--it's the best of two worlds).

Anyway, Tom and I were in a state of nostalgia for Vienna and NYC throughout the movie and well into the night. Lots of sighing.

Adele Bloch-Bauer, Marie Altmann's aunt

Belvedere Palace/Museum

Inside Belvedere Palace

As I recall, the Mormon Church considered this building for its NYC temple, but decided against it.