In Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, how is the Reception discussed?
Klimt exhibited his portrait at the 1907 Mannheim International Art Show, alongside the Portrait of Fritza Riedler (1906). Many of the critics had negative reactions to the two paintings, describing them as "mosaic-like wall-grotesqueries", "bizarre", "absurdities" and "vulgarities".In 1908 the portrait was exhibited at the Kunstschau in Vienna where critical reaction was mixed. The unnamed reviewer from the Wiener Allgemeine Zeitung described the painting as "an idol in a golden shrine", while the critic Eduard Pötzl described the work as "mehr Blech als Bloch" ("more brass than Bloch"). According to the art historian Tobias G. Natter, some critics disapproved of the loss of the sitter's individuality, while others "accused Klimt of endangering the autonomy of art".
Tobias G. Natter Vienna