Introduction

Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer or his wife Adele (this was disputed) owned five paintings by Gustav Klimt that are now in the collection of the Austrian Gallery. Ferdinand donated one of the paintings to the Austrian Gallery in 1936. Because of imminent threats to his life Ferdinand had to flee from Austria in 1938. At the war's end, three Klimt paintings were in the Austrian Gallery, the others in various other collections. Ferdinand died shortly after the end of the war in 1945, leaving his estate (consisting solely of restitution claims) to his two nieces and a nephew. He made no ...