Gustav Klimt 1862-1918

Gustav Klimt

1862-1918

Born in Vienna, in 1862, into a lower middle-class family of Moravian origin. Gustav Klimt, was an influential Austrian painter of the late 19th Century, one of the founders and leaders of the Vienna Secession art movement, although he would later move beyond it. His father was an engraver and goldsmith. Gustav was sent to the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts, in order to follow in his father's footsteps. As na exceptional student, he was given the chance to attend classes at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. Klimt soon demonstrated his talent and would be commissioned to paint several large decorative works by the age of twenty.

After finishing his studies, Klimt opened a studio together with his two brothers, specialized in interior decoration, particularly theaters. Already by the 1880s, they were renowned for their skill and decorated theaters throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and much of their work can still be seen there. In 1880, Klimt was commissioned to paint the Auditorium of the Old Burgtheater. This painting, with its almost photographic accuracy is considered one of the greatest achievements in Naturalist painting, and was awarded the Emperor's Prize. Paradoxically, it was at this point, that Klimt began turning towards the radical new styles of the Art Noveau. focusing on experimentation and the study of contemporary styles of art, as well as historical styles that were overlooked within the establishment, such as Japanese, Chinese, Ancient Egyptian and Mycenaean art. Although educated as classicist, his use of bright, vivid colors and the widespread use of symbolic objects in his paintings would set the trends for the entire period, and would have a profound influence on Viennese Art Noveau and the Secession movement ( founded in 1897), that was against the classicist establishment, which it found to be oppressive. In 1903, he visited Italy twice and was profoundly influenced by the golden mosaics of Ravenna. This marked the beginning of his "golden style." By 1910, Klimt had moved past his Golden Style, and in 1912, he changed the background from gold to blue.

The Old Burgtheater

Theater in Taormina 1886-88

Sappho 1888-90

Music 1895

Sonja Knips 1898

Pallas Athena 1898

Schubert at the Piano 1899 ( Destroyed by fire at Schloss Immerdorf in 1945 )

Judith and Holopherne 1901

Goldfish 1901-1902

Portrait of a Girl 1902

Portrait of Emilie Flöge 1902

Hope I 1903

Farmhouse with Birch Trees 1903

Country Garden with Sunflowers 1905-1906

Portrait of Margarethe StoneboroughWittgenstein 1905

The Three Ages of Woman 1905

Hope II 1907-1908

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I 1907

Hygeia (Detail of Medicine) 1900-1907

The Kiss 1907-1908

Danae 1907-1908

Death and Life 1908-1916

Judith II (Salome) 1909

Adele BlochBauer II 1912

The Virgin 1914

Fredericke Maria Beer 1916

Lady with Fan 1917-1918

Baby 1917 Baby 1917-1918

Adam and Eva (unfinished) 1917-1918

Friends 1917 (Destroyed by fire in 1945)

Portrait of Mäda Primavesi 1921

Klimt died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1918. He continued painting until the very end and many of his final works remained unfinished.

CM