Adele Bloch-Bauer was born into a respectable bourgeois family. Her father was the CEO of the Bank Union of Vienna. At the age of 18, she got married to an art lover, Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, who was significantly older than her. Adele posed for 4 important paintings by Gustav Klimt. The most famous one was Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (on the right). The painting is also known as The Lady in Gold or The Woman in Gold.

An interesting story is connected with the portrait: Adele’s husband was convinced that there was a romantic relationship between Adele and Klimt. In order to make the artist less interested in his wife, Bloch-Bauer ordered a portrait of his wife to be made by Klimt. He hoped that if she spent a lot of time near the artist, that he would get tired of her. The artist spent 4 years working on the painting and he made 100 drafts. Even if they had a relationship, it really cooled down during this period.