SYNONYMS: AFFECT, INFLUENCE, PROMPT, IMPRESS AND OTHERS

When Gustav Klimt’s ‘Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I’ was first shown to the general public in 1907, it must have IMPRESSED the viewers. The moment you see the portrait your eyes are riveted on the face of a strikingly beautiful young woman with a mysterious half smile playing on her lips. Yet, the gold background heavy with fabrics and decorative elements seems to have asserted dominance over her thus making her look detached and fragile.

Gustav Klimt ‘Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I’

Our perception of any painting is INFLUENCED by its life: conception, execution and any twists of fate it has undergone since the artist first displayed it. ‘Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I’ also known as Austria’s Mona Lisa has an interesting history. To begin with, the author of the portrait, Gustav Klimt (1962-1918) was Austria’s most notable and fashionable avant-garde artist painting mostly women and enjoying the reputation of a Casanova. 

GUSTAV KLIMT

There is controversy as to what must have PROMPTED the decision of the wealthy industrialist Ferdinand Bloch to commission the painter to do a portrait of his wife, Adele. One reason could have been a simple desire to possess a status symbol and to invest money in art. Another explanation is the rumours about Adele’s affair with Gustav Klimt which were going about. The supposedly jealous husband thought that if he commissioned the portrait, Adele would have to sit for the artist regularly over a long period of time and it would TRANSFORM their relationship from a love affair into a mere acquaintanceship as the painter would get bored and his passion would subside. Whatever motives Ferdinand Bloch had, the portrait was completed in 1907 four years after it was ordered and was given pride of place in the Bloch-Bauers’ art collection.

ADELE BLOCH-BAUER

Adele died at the age of 43 and under her will the portrait had to be donated to the Austrian State Gallery after her husband’s death. However, her husband lost possession of the painting when Austria was annexed by Nazi Germany in 1938 and he had to flee to Switzerland fearing persecution because he was a Jew. The Nazis called the picture ‘The Dame in Gold’ to make people forget that it was a portrait of a woman from a prominent Jewish family and put it on display in the Belvedere, a major art gallery in Vienna. After World War II the portrait remained the property of the Belvedere Gallery and became one of the symbols of Vienna INSPIRING its population and attracting tourists.

Yet, in 1998, Maria Altmann, a 82-year-old niece of Ferdinand and Adele, began a legal battle to reclaim Klimt’s masterpiece. What INDUCED the elderly lady to enter a seemingly unwinnable legal dispute with Austria? She said a desire for justice SPURRED her ON. Her family had suffered from the Nazis during the war. She was DEEPLY AFFECTED when she learnt that her uncle had died unhappy and penniless in Zurich and was eager to fulfil his last wish, which was to recover the valuables confiscated by the Nazis. 

MARIA ALTMANN

Justice or other motives, Maria Altmann won the case after a 7-year struggle and sold the recovered ‘Golden Adele’ to art collector and cosmetics mogul Ronald Lauder for 135 million dollars in 2006. When her lawyer, E. Randol Schoenberg, was asked why she had sold the painting she had fought so hard to win back, he answered that she had to share Adele’s portrait with the rest of the family and it was easier to divide the money. Besides, the insurance costs were considerable. If you want to see 'Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I’ now, you will have to go to New York and visit The Neue Galerie, founded by Ronald Lauder.

Look at the words in capitals in the text. What common meaning do they have? If your answer is ‘to PRODUCE A CHANGE in someone or something’, you are right. Now let us have a closer look at the differences between them:

To IMPRESS is to produce a change in the way someone feels arousing their admiration and respect. - Gustav Klimt’s ‘Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I’ must have IMPRESSED people when they first saw it.

TO AFFECT SOMEONE DEEPLY OR PROFOUNDLY is to produce a change in them making them feel strong feelings of sadness or pity. – Maria Altman was DEEPLY AFFECTED by her uncle’s sad end.

To INFLUENCE is to produce a change in the way someone thinks or behaves. – The story behind a work of art INFLUENCES the way we perceive it.

TO PROMPT is to cause a change in someone making them decide to do something. – Nobody knows exactly what PROMPTED Ferdinand Bloch to commission Gustav Klimt to paint his wife.

TO TRANSFORM is to cause a radical change in something or someone so that they become completely different in appearance or character. – There is an opinion that Ferdinand Bloch hoped that his wife’s regular sittings for the portrait would TRANSFORM her relationship with Klimt from a love affair into a mere acquaintanceship.

TO INSPIRE is to cause a change in someone giving them desire, confidence and enthusiasm. E.g. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I became a symbol of Vienna INSPIRING its people and attracting tourists.

TO INDUCE is to produce a change in someone making them choose to do something. E.g. What INDUCED the elderly lady to enter a seemingly unwinnable legal dispute with Austria?

TO SPUR is to produce a change in someone encouraging them to try harder to achieve something. E.g. Maria Altman said that a desire for justice had SPURRED her ON.

Practise studying synonyms and you will sound more precise and eloquent in English.