Met Museum to Acquire Klimt's $135m Portrait in Neue Galerie Merger

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, America's largest art museum, will acquire Gustav Klimt's Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907) as part of a merger with the Neue Galerie New York. The Neue Galerie, founded by cosmetics heir Ronald S. Lauder in 2001, specializes in early 20th-century German and Austrian art. The painting, valued at $135 million, was the subject of a landmark restitution case returning it to the Bloch-Bauer family before Lauder purchased it in 2006. The merger unites two neighboring institutions on Fifth Avenue, creating a combined collection that strengthens the Met's holdings in modern Austrian art. The deal includes the transfer of the Neue Galerie's entire collection and endowment. The portrait has been a centerpiece of the Neue Galerie since its opening. The acquisition marks one of the most significant single-artwork additions in the Met's history.