The Extraordinary Tale of Gustav Klimt's Masterpiece

A five star read! I would recommend it to anyone interested in the background of the famous painter and painting and the climate of pre-world war two Austria, as well as the measures taken to restore the painting to its rightful place.

O'Connor has produced a exhaustive work examining the artistic and Jewish intellectual life of Vienna before WWII that contains new historical facts as well as opens up new perspectives on what was once an essential cultural capital of Europe. Using the repatriation of an iconic symbol of the height of Viennese cultural life as a unifying theme, she painstakingly delves deeply into the lives of the principal families of patrons and artists who surround it, and carries the story forward with economy and precision into the current moment.

What impressed me most about the writing was the way she crafted an utterly simple structure into a coherent whole while cramming an incredible, dizzying amount of different stories and personal testimony spanning a century. It's emotional roller coaster ride. The arc of history itself provides her with all the drama she needed, but I've read quite a few books written by professional historians and biographers that can take the same material and suck the life out of it through dry writing or excessive quotations. Her writing is light and factual, generally free of cliche and relies more heavily on perfectly chosen adjectives than purple prose or dubious conjecture.

The first third of the book is a very pleasant and quickly told tale that manages to introduce most of the major figures of the art and intellectual world of Vienna before the occupation. Much of this concerns Adele, the Lady In Gold, and her extended family, and the lushly fertile setting of the glory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. I devoured this easily, noticing that O'Connor was impressing me more than I expected by clearly introducing an abnormally large array of characters without blending them all together or wasting undue words.

The second third of the book concerned itself with Maria and Nelly, two of the principal heirs of Adele's family, and how they dealt with the coming menace of the 3rd Reich and the war itself. At this point, the story is the same painful recounting of traumas we have read many times, and I was almost ready to give up, because I hate WWII books. But I was drawn in, instead, and found myself becoming emotionally involved by the simple, clear prose style. O'Connor handled scenes of brutality and injustice with incredible tact and dignity, and I think her restraint in this section - which could have devolved into melodramatic hysteria at any point, given the insanely horrible nature of those times - not only kept me glued to the book, but helped increase the emotional involvement I felt.

The last third concerns itself with the mystery of the actual legal wrangling around the painting, which the reader is now quite concerned about. The natural progression of events, simple as they are, are presented in such a way, and with a subtle emphasis on a family that has suffered such grave injustice, that the fate of the painting and the contemptuous and presumptive manner in which it was kept from them, actually felt urgently important to me. She manages to get across the enormity of the wrangling over it, and the importance of whether it would ever leave Vienna becomes clear.

Above all, I recommend this book because it is very well done. In structure, style, and content it is rich and satisfying. Secondly, this book brings the important cultural life of pre-war Vienna to life wonderfully. Anyone who has read "Cultural Amnesia" by Clive James should read it without hesitation; that book makes a great companion to it. The importance of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the capital Vienna was once essential until the Nazis ruined it, with the help of the Austrians themselves. Third, our cultural amnesia about the damage done to civilization by the Nazis is too easily dismissed or trivialized by hyperbolic comparison, and this book puts them into perspective. Not to mention a particularly chilling glimpse in the injustice of the communists who took over afterward.

I found rhe first part of the book very interesting and appealing.The description of the turn of the century Vienna was very well accomplished. The description of the trials I found to long. I enjoyed reading it very much.

Fascinating insights into an era before World War 2...I was swept away with all the intrigues and exciting lives of the different characters and then overcome with sadness at the horriffic events that followed. Could not put the book down until the last page! I happened to be in New York and managed to get to the Neuwe Museum and saw the famous Klimt painting of Adele Bloch-Bauer...it was stunning!

I have always responded to the artistry of Gustav Klimt and was intrigued to discover this book in anticipation of the upcoming film. I learned so many things about Austria, and the destruction and devastation of this period. I am thankful to Ms O'Connor for her research and passion to bring Adele B-B, her family, friends and contemporaries into the light from the darkness of this time. A history lesson for art lovers and all of us.

I recently saw an exhibit at the Houston Museum of fine Art on Kolomon Moser who was part of the Vienna succession. I had always loved Gustav Klimt and he was an important part of the succession. I loved this book and could not put it down. I thought that I was reading about an artist but it lead me down a path that I continue to follow. The story of Vienna in the 1900s and the influence it had over modern art, architecture, science, literature and psychology. The jews fleeing Vienna and the stolen art. This book led me to rad another book called The Hare with amber eyes.....Amazing

I'm very interested in this topic and enjoyed the book a lot. It could/should have been significantly shorter. The author was one who did not want to omit any of her vast research for the sake of story-telling. So it was filled with too many details, however it was very illuminating about Austria and their Nazi-compliant past. The story of the people behind the art in the beginning of the book was fascinating too. I would also applaud the author for being so creative as to do a biography of a painting.

Great book great service. This is the first book and audio I have purchased. It worked out perfecly with bookmarking. I never had to guess where I left off. I will not hastitate to order others and highly recommend both digital and audio.

I liked this book very much, in particular the first two parts. The third part, which actually is the story of the film, repeats a lot of the beginning. But it is important since it portrays Vienna today and how it looks back to its past.

"The Lady in Gold" provides far more background information to the movie. This book shows Austria as a willing collaborator rather than a victim to Hitler's domination, and there is plenty of documentation as to its results. Convoluted at times and difficult to follow in terms of relations, relatives, and marriages, yet the end result is a clear win for the Maria Altmann. Most interesting to me was Vienna and its culture prior to Hitler's arrival. This is a fascinating study and judgement of cultural theft.

The subject matter of the book was not very familiar to me--most of my information from this time period concerned Germans and other European peoples that the Germans conquered. This very well researched book about Austrian actions/reactions to Hitler's welcome entry into Austria was surprising and tragic. Imagine how far civilization might have advanced by now if WWII had not destroyed the very cosmopolitan society in the Vienna of the 1930s. I enjoyed reading this book when the author was detailing all of the factual information that she had gathered--you could almost hear her checking off each fact that she transcribed from her 3"x5" research cards. The weakest moments in this book occurred when O'Connor stepped outside of her role as narrator of facts and attempted to sew up what she perceived as holes in her story by adding poorly written, overwrought fictions.

I bought the book because I was fortunate enough to see the picture during the brief time it was on display in CA. This is a great story and if it wasn't for the lawyer and the lady in the book we would have never seen the painting.
If you are at all interested in recovered art you need to read this book.

This is a better book than the movie adaptation because it affords a rich background into the amazing cultural and intellectual environment of Vienna between the two World Wars. Nearly every academic/medical field or artistic movement has at least some roots in the Vienna of the 30's, whether building on those left behind or who escaped.

The story of this painting is fascinating and might be as compelling as the painting itself. O'Conner wrote an entertaining novel that is backed up with enough research to have made this material into a dissertation. The book is easy to read, although there are so many characters that the story is occasionally confusing. The rewards are worth the investment of brain cells that will be burned trying to follow the multitude of characters.

The most frustrating thing about the book is that there are so many questions left unanswered. To the Austrians who fought the case, what were their motivations? Did they really believe that Ferdinand wasn't robbed? If they truly thought the painting was owned by Adele rather than her husband, did they honestly think that she would have eventually bestowed it to Austria, given the horrific actions of many of her neighbors? Why isn't Austria doing more to act ethically with regard to similar stolen works? Does ethics even play a role in these matters?

The characterization of the attorney in the story, Schoenberg, is incomplete. O'Conner portrays him as candid, honest, and driven to fight injustice. It would have been nice to know his feelings about the financial remuneration. He was painted in the book to have personality flaws but O'Conner's Schoenberg is nevertheless virtuous. His efforts seem to be heroic at first glance. However, are true heroes supposed to be paid a hundred million for their efforts? How much of Schoenberg's drive was based on the hundred million dollar potential payoff? What do other attorney's think of this type of payoff, given that the client was an elderly woman? Would they think there are conflicts of interest when setting that high of a contingency percentage? Is a 40% payoff in a contingency case a typical amount when the case is valued at hundreds of millions? Should there have been a cap? Should Schoenberg have advised Maria to obtain a second attorney to review the contract details, given her advanced age?

I need a second book on this Schoenberg guy!

Beautifully written book about a most difficult and also interesting time. My parents came from Vienna at the time the book took place, I kept hoping to "meet" one of their friends. this book should be required reading in high school. Superb!

This book shows how the interaction between one of the greatest artist of our times, the history of that period in Vienna, the status of woman in the extremely wealthy Jewish community. The role of these women their connection with being patrons of new artist. Obviously her love affair with Klimf, and then the history of what happened to these wealthy Jews and how they robbed of their possessions by the Nazi's. What is amazing that through sheer perseverance how Maria and her lawyer went to the Supreme Court to get the painting that rightly belonged to her family, and actually got the painting back,

Beautifully written book about a most difficult and also interesting time. My parents came from Vienna at the time the book took place, I kept hoping to "meet" one of their friends. this book should be required reading in high school. Superb!

This book shows how the interaction between one of the greatest artist of our times, the history of that period in Vienna, the status of woman in the extremely wealthy Jewish community. The role of these women their connection with being patrons of new artist. Obviously her love affair with Klimf, and then the history of what happened to these wealthy Jews and how they robbed of their possessions by the Nazi's. What is amazing that through sheer perseverance how Maria and her lawyer went to the Supreme Court to get the painting that rightly belonged to her family, and actually got the painting back,

Beautifully written, reads more like a novel but is a well researched piece of history. Will never view Austria in the same way again . Have always loved Klimt's paintings and now have a new appreciation of him as an artist and the context in which he lived.

Excellent read.

I felt the book was not well written. Only about 25% of the book dealt with the actual court case. In my opinion it seemed to jumped around between characters and I got somewhat confused. There are many interesting and new facts that I learned regarding the persecution of the Jews in Vienna by the Naxis that I thought were very interesting and very very disturbing . It certainly did spark my interest in wanting to see the painting.

The realities of history that tell of a world most of us can't imagine combined with details of atrocities committed in the name of ideology and self interest that are hard to stomach. A reminder, too, that history can easily repeat itself....

This was a very interesting book and provided great insight into Austria's role during WWII. It felt a little long in the beginning but it was probably necessary to really understand what life was like in Vienna for several decades leading up to the war and to grasp all the characters and their connections. It was an excellent history lesson. I would recommend it.

This true story was very interesting, from an historical perspective more than the art itself. The middle of the book bogged down with too many unnecessary characters, but the last part of the book was better again when it focused on the main characters and story line. Overall, I enjoyed the book and it was fairly well written.

I could not stop thinking about this book. Anne Marie O'Connor brings readers into the heart of Vienna at a time when great art was being produced and subsidized by a remarkable and even quirky group of people, mostly Jews and then she guides us through the destruction of much of that art and of the people who helped create it, as Hitler tried to shape Austria and the world to his hideous vision. But ultimately this is a story of triumph by an old woman and a young lawyer who would not give up until The Lady in Gold was returned to her family, and the world. There is much to be learned in reading this deeply reported and skillfully written book.

Imagine TV's "Survivor Series" mixed together with Austro-Hungarian Empire intrigue and its extraordinary emerging Jewish middle class linked to a scandalous artistic genius and you have the foundation of "The Lady in Gold" Throw in a bit of classic European antisemitism, social jealousies, the rise and fall of Nazi Germany, the holocaust and the explosion in the world wide women's fashion and beauty industry after WWII and you have the wonderful tale presented here. Stories do not get any better than this.

It was as much about history that lead Holocaust and what happen in Vienna as it is about the Artist and the painting . I truly love it and recomen to anyone who interested Art history, Jewish history or WW II.

"The Lady in Gold" is an extraordinary book. Lots of history of the Austrian people during the Nazi regime. It tells stories of families, famous painters and writers and the life in Vienna during the war years. The details are fascinating. Much of it is sad as it tells of the persecution of the Jews of Vienna. The main theme of the story is restoring stolen art to Jewish families after the war, especially Gustav Klimpt's "The Lady in Gold". I highly recommend this book. It's a wonderful read.

I discovered an important thing about the books to read on my Kindle. Don't buy books with endnotes. In this book, I didn't even know until I reached the end of the story and discovered many more pages that were endnotes. No footnotes were included in the text. The notes were keyed to pages.
The story was interesting and told in great detail. I would dearly have loved a genealogical diagram showing how all the people in the story were related to each other. I guess I would recommend the book to people who are interested in learning how the Nazis appropriated the private property of Austrian Jews and how the Austrian government refused to return it after WW II. It had to be wrested from them, which is part of the story. However, be aware that there are endnotes and buy the printed book.

This could have been a great book. The subject matter is intriguing- but there are so many characters with similar names that the reading is difficult. The timeline also goes back and forth to make it confusing. Some characters are introduced in one page and then never talked about again. I wanted more details of the contemporary characters involved with the whole legal ordeal- This part seemed very rushed. I really cannot recommend this book. Hope the movie Woman-in-Gold is much better!

After looking forward to this book until it came out, I was very unsatisfied by it. The account of the culture of Vienna and the buildup of the Nazi power in Austria was interesting, but not enough to exclude the story of the painting to such an extent. The book was touted as the search for the Klimt painting of Adele, yet 2/3 of the way into the book that theme was still barely developed. I have begun to believe that books that are promoted by extensive advertising are not always what they are cracked up to be. Advertising this book as The Nazi Atrocities in Austria would have been more honest.