Adele Bloch-Bauer I, by Gustav Klimt. Oil, silver and gold on canvas, 1907.

If you have any interest in the work of Gustav Klimt, now is the time to head down to LA. I know what you're thinking - the last thing I want to do is be surrounded by smog, traffic, and Hollywood yuppies. Well, sorry, but if you have any desire to see the painting to the left, you'd better head to LACMA soon. Say, before June 30th. Heck, even I'm seriously considering taking the 8 hour drive from my home to get there.

Five Gustav Klimt paintings, including Adele Bloch-Bauer I, were recently returned to their rightful owner in LA. Maria Altmann, niece of Adele Bloch-Bauer (their original owner), won a legal battle with the Austrian government, which had taken possession of the paintings after the Jewish Bloch-Bauer family fled the country during World War II. Thanks to some serious sucking up, LACMA gets to exhibit these paintings for the next 3 months. After that, who knows where they will end up, but I shed tears to think that Altmann might have them hanging in her living room or something. Come on lady, buy yourself a poster to hang in the house, and put the paintings on public display like they should be.

It will especially be tragic if Adele Bloch-Bauer I ends up in a private collection. It's probably the greatest painting Klimt has done that makes use of silver and gold. Klimt's father was a gold and silver engraver, so when Klimt uses them he really knows what he's doing. Paintings like this really hearken back to the good old days of Byzantine icons and mosaics. Also, gold is pretty.

Ironically, Adele Bloch-Bauer I has been known for a long time as the "Mona Lisa of Austria." Looks like now she'll be "Mona Lisa of LA," or "Mona Lisa of Maria Altmann's House." We'll have to wait and see. Be sure to check out the LACMA website for more info on the exhibition.