Summary

NAME: US PAINTING 20060619I TAPE: EF06/0538 IN_TIME: 10:41:36:16 DURATION: 00:03:31:03 SOURCES: AP TELEVISION DATELINE: Various - 19 June 2006/ File RESTRICTIONS: SHOTLIST New York, 19 June 2006 1 Neue Gallery in New york City 2 Sign at entrance of gallery 3 SOUNDBITE (English) Scott Gutterman, deputy director of Neue Gallery: We are thrilled to have this painting 'Adele Bloch-Bauer I', it is a major work of the 20th century and it is really our 'Mona Lisa' and it will bring the Neue Gallery to a whole new level 4 Area of gallery where the painting will be placed on display 5 Area of gallery displaying a painting by Gustav Klimt 6 SOUNDBITE (English) Scott Gutterman, deputy director of Neue Gallery: This painting bridges the 19th and 20th centuries in terms of style, it is a portrait that is was made over the course of three years by Klimt and is really considered one of its great masterpieces FILE - Los Angeles, 4 April 2006 7 Bloch-Bauer's niece Maria Altmann and her lawyer E Randol Schoenberg in front of Klimt painting Adele Bloch-Bauer I 8 Altmann 9 Painting and Altmann and her lawyer 10 Cameraman 11 Altmann looks at painting 12 Klimt exhibit sign 13 Still of Adele Bloch-Bauer 14 Altmann in front of painting 15 Altmann leaving Klimt exhibit STORYLINE A gold-encrusted portrait by Gustav Klimt that was at the heart of a battle over Nazi-looted art has been purchased for a record price in the US The 1907 portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer - one of the world's most recognisable paintings - was purchased by a New York museum co-founded by cosmetics mogul Ronald S Lauder, the seller's attorney confirmed on Sunday The attorney refused to disclose the price but said it eclipsed the record of 1041 (m) million US dollars paid at auction for Picasso's 1905 Boy With a Pipe (The Young Apprentice) The New York Times, citing experts familiar with the negotiations, reported the portrait sold for 135 (m) million US dollars The Adele Bloch-Bauer I painting will head to the Neue Galerie, a museum of German and Austrian art in New York It is really our 'Mona Lisa' and it will bring the Neue Gallery to a whole new level, deputy director Scott Gutterman told AP Television News The painting was sold by Bloch-Bauer's niece, Maria Altmann, and her family The 90-year-old was a newlywed when she watched the Nazis seize power in 1938 and steal the portrait and four other Klimts from her aunt and uncle's home Since then, the portrait has primarily been in the Austrian Gallery Belvedere in Vienna, near Klimt's famous painting The Kiss Altmann feared she had no hope of recovering the collection until a 1998 law in Austria required museums to return art seized by the Nazis Still, the Los Angeles resident battled against the Austrian government for seven years to recover the painting In a statement released by the family, Altmann said it was important for the heirs and for my aunt Adele that her work be displayed in a museum