<P> To avoid returning to the courts in what could have been lengthy litigation process, arbitration in Austria was agreed upon by both parties, although the Austrians had turned down such a move in 1999 . Three arbitrators formed the panel . Schoenberg gave evidence before them in September 2005 and, in January 2006, they delivered their judgement . They stated that five of the six paintings in question should be returned to the Bloch - Bauer estate, as outlined in Ferdinand's will; only the Portrait of Amalie Zuckerkandl was to be retained by the gallery . </P> <P> After the panel's decision was announced, the Galerie Belvedere ran a series of advertisements that appeared in bus stops and on underground railway platforms . The posters said "Ciao Adele", advertising the last opportunity before the painting left the country and long queues formed around the block . Although there were calls from some Austrians for the state to purchase the five paintings, the government stated that the price would be too high to justify the expense . The paintings were exported from Austria in March 2006 and exhibited together at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art from April to June that year . </P> <P> When Altmann was asked what she wanted to do with the paintings, she stated "I would not want any private person to buy these paintings,...It is very meaningful to me that they are seen by anybody who wants to see them, because that would have been the wish of my aunt ." In June 2006 the Portrait of Adele Bloch - Bauer I was sold to Ronald Lauder for $135 million, at the time a record price for a painting . Eileen Kinsella, the editor of ARTnews, considered the high price was due to several factors, particularly the painting's provenance, the increasing demand for Austrian Expressionism, rising prices in the art world and "Lauder's passion for and pursuit of this particular work". Lauder placed the work in the Neue Galerie, the New York - based gallery he co-founded . The painting has been on display at the location since . </P> <P> Michael Kimmelman, the chief art critic for the New York Times, was critical of the sale, and wrote that "A story about justice and redemption after the Holocaust has devolved into yet another tale of the crazy, intoxicating art market ." Altmann said of the sale that it was not practical for her, or her relatives who were also part of the estate, to retain any of the paintings . In November 2006 the remaining four Klimt paintings were sold at Christie's auction house . Adele Bloch - Bauer II sold for $87.9 million, Apfelbaum I for $33 million, Buchenwald for $40.3 million and Häuser in Unterach am Attersee for $31 million . All went to private collections . </P>

Where to see the woman in gold painting