Two different kinds of return appear here: a painting found in a gallery wall and authenticated as a stolen Klimt, and an Austrian arbitration concerning five paintings. The dossier separates physical recovery and authentication from the legal determination of restitution.
4 reports · Source dates: 1 Jan 1945 — 20 Oct 2026
Each entry reflects its source on the stated date. A historical theft report does not mean a work remains missing. Attributions, allegations and decisions remain distinct; this dossier does not authenticate artworks.
Not documented in this record: distinguishing features · subject.
Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer acquired it from Klimt; seized in 1938.
Neue Galerie New York · Museum collection record on Google Arts & Culture ↗ · checkedEntered the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere.
Neue Galerie New York · Museum collection record on Google Arts & Culture ↗ · checkedAustria restituted it to Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer’s heirs.
Neue Galerie New York · Museum collection record on Google Arts & Culture ↗ · checkedNeue Galerie New York acquired it from the heirs.
Neue Galerie New York · Museum collection record on Google Arts & Culture ↗ · checkedOnly stages supported by the cited sources are shown. This list is not a complete chain of ownership.
Identification details follow the Object ID categories where documented. Ownership history is recorded separately; this documentation is not an authentication or a certificate of ownership.
The €30 million bid for Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Fräulein Lieser at Im Kinsky in 2024 did not result in a completed sale after a further ownership claim emerged. In 2026, a claimant brought a US lawsuit seeking recognition as an heir and the return of the painting. Its ownership remained disputed.
Experts confirmed that the painting found in a cavity in the Ricci Oddi gallery wall in December 2019 was Portrait of a Lady, missing since 1997.
An Austrian arbitration panel ruled that five Gustav Klimt paintings should be returned to the Bloch-Bauer heirs, including Maria Altmann. The January 2006 report records the ruling; the physical transfer followed later.
Six drawings, catalogue numbers 26348–26353, are listed from Bertalan Neményi’s collection. They include two distinct standing nude studies. The circumstances of each loss and the present locations remain unverified.
