How is US$150 million Klimt painting once owned by Oprah Winfrey linked to Hong Kong ex-barrister?
- ‘Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II’, sold by Oprah Winfrey to an anonymous Chinese buyer in 2017, resurfaced in October at an exhibition in Amsterdam
- The painting’s link to Rosaline Wong Wing-yue’s HomeArt prompts the question of just how many of the world’s valuable artworks in private hands are in Hong Kong
In February 2017, newswire service Bloomberg ran an exclusive report about an eye-catching art transaction under the headline: “Oprah Said to Snag US$150 Million Selling Klimt to Chinese Buyer”.
The report said that Oprah Winfrey, the queen of US show business, made a profit of US$60 million from the sale, orchestrated by top international dealer Larry Gagosian.
Given that Winfrey issued no denial, the art world has since been wondering about the identity of anonymous buyer that bought Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II (1912) at what would have been a record price for Austrian artist Gustav Klimt, of The Kiss fame, at the time.
In October 2022, the painting resurfaced in Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum at a major exhibition of Klimt, with the source of the painting given as “Private Collection, Courtesy of HomeArt”.
While the name may sound like that of an interior design company, HomeArt is actually an investment advisory that helps wealthy individuals and corporations buy rare and important artworks discreetly.
