Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer
Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer (16 July 1864 – 13 November 1945) was an Austrian banker and sugar business magnate who owned one of the most extensive art collections in Europe, most of which was looted by the Nazis during the Anschluss.Ferdinand began commissioning the most sought after painter in Austria at that time, Gustav Klimt, to paint pictures of Adele, who became the only woman to have two full length portraits done by the artist.One of his finds was the will of Ferdinand, who died twenty years after Adele, indicating his heirs, including his niece Maria Altmann, were to receive all the paintings.Czernin's articles and his startling discovery paved the way for Maria and her lawyer E. Randol Schoenberg to launch a nearly decade long legal battle to gain rightful ownership of the Bloch-Bauer estate.In 2006, Altmann and two other heirs were awarded all five Klimt works in a landmark Supreme Court of the United States decision that restituted $325 million.