The portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, completed in 1907, was commissioned by her husband Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, a wealthy industrialist who made his money in the sugar industry. It paints a picture of a well-to-do Viennese socialite, but dig beneath the dazzling gold surface, and the painting begins to tell a much more captivating tale. Her reputation as  bold, fiery, intellectual and arrogant, sits at odds with the delicate woman that serenely looks back at you from the canvas. Adele sits off-centre, snug amongst a dizzying array of patterns – whirls of spirals, eyes, squares, checks and triangles. Her gaze is intimate and seductive, and rumour has it, Adele and Klimt shared more than just a platonic friendship. Klimt spent his life playing homage to beautiful women in his work, yet this is the only woman he painted more than once and he made more studies for it than any other painting in his career. This is the enigma of the most famous painting by Klimt that continues to captivate us today. #objet_d_emotion⁠⠀.⁠⠀.⁠⠀.⁠⠀#valerydemure#jewellery#fashionjewelry#finejewellery#contemporarydesign#jewelry#finejewelry#art#modernart#painting#luxury#objetdemotion#handmade#instagood#designerjewellery#fashionjewellery#fineart#jewellerycollector#jewelrycollector#jewel#jewels#artisan#craftsmanship#gold