Saw "Woman in Gold" and boy, I am mad all over again...
I read the book and had the same reaction. The Austrian government, as late as 2006, was arguing that the Klimt painting of Adele Bloch-Bauer was the "patrimony" of Austria and the Belvedere Museum in Vienna had to be FORCED to give it back to her.
The story is so exciting. Her case went to the US Supreme Court (to determine if she could sue a foreign entity). and a young attorney Randol Shoenberg (grandson of the composer) who was fiercely dedicated to Maria Altmann, Bloch-Bauer's rightful heir to the painting of her aunt, and her righteous pursuit of justice saw it through the ups and downs of that pursuit.
Helen Mirren is terrific as always. It's too bad this film got such disappointing reviews.
After Maria got the painting back, and before her death, she sold it privately to the American art collector, Ron Lauder, for $135 million. Lauder, who was opening his own Neue Gallery in NYC, placed it there. I saw it there a few years ago and it is quite impressive. Maria had said it should go into a museum to be available to the public. She got her wish and I thank her for her vision...
I will never set foot in Austria because of what they did.
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By your standards, I wouldn't set foot in this country either.
Oh, they're slimy. And the movie really gives the Austrians a deserved black eye. Good. I'm glad. Maria and Randy took a real risk letting the decision go to an Austrian arbitration panel but it seems that "bad press" was the reason those bastards let it go. Lots of people were raising hell and it must have had an effect on tourism. So it was probably all about that, all along. effin' nazis...
