Gustav Klimt

1862-1918

Born in Vienna, in 1862, into a lower middle-class family

the late 19th Century

one of the founders and leaders of the Vienna Secession art movement

As an exceptional student, he was given the chance to attend classes at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts commissioned to paint several large decorative works by the age of twenty.

Sappho 1888-90

Sonja Knips

1898

Portrait of a Girl 1902

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.

Music 1895

Pallas Athena 1898

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

Judith and Holopherne 1901

Goldfish1901-1902

Portrait of Emilie Flöge 1902

Hope I 1903

Farmhouse with Birch Trees 1903

Country Garden with Sunflowers 1905-1906

Portrait of Margarethe Stoneborough-Wittgenstein

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

Death and Life 1908-1916

Judith II (Salome) 1909

Adele Bloch-Bauer II 1912

Fredericke Maria Beer 1916

Lady with Fan 1917-1918

Baby 1917

Baby 1917-1918

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