An Appreciation:
Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt is Austria's best known artist. Starting out as a conventional academic artist, Klimt developed a unique modern style that combines figures and abstract design.

Klimt was born in 1862 in Baumgarten, Austria outside of Vienna. His father was an engraver often working with gold but Gustav grew up in poverty.

Like his two brothers, Gustav showed an early interest of art. He received his artistic training at the State School of Arts and Crafts as did his brother Ernst. The two brothers formed a partnership with fellow artists Franz Matsch. They found their first success doing conventional history paintings, often as as decoration for building interiors.

In 1888, Gustav received the Golden Order of Merit from Austria's emperor. He was also made an honorary member of the University of Munich and of the University of Vienna. In short, Klimt's academic style of painting was a success.

This did not mean it was all smooth sailing for the artist. In 1894, Klimt was commissioned to paint three works for the ceiling of the Great Hall of the University of Vienna. Klimt's new style was so overtly sexual that these paintings were widely criticized as pornography. As a result, Klimt never accepted another commission for a public building.

Gustav was no longer satisfied with conventional art. Therefore, after Ernst's death in 1892, Gustav changed course. He resigned from the Kunstlerhaus, an association embodying Vienna's art establishment, and in 1897, became a founding member of the Vienna Secession, a group who sought to break away from the rules of the art establishment of the day. Elected its founding president, Klimt oversaw a series of exhibitions not only by its members but also by foreign contemporary artists.

Despite the novelty of this rebellion, Klimt's unconventional style was appreciated by Vienna's growing middle class who commissioned him to do portraits. The government also supported the group, giving it a lease on public land on which to construct an exhibition hall. (In 1902, Klimt painted the “Beethoven Freeze” for an exhibition held at the Secession's hall. It was so successful that it was retained after the exhibition closed).

Klimt also worked with members of the Wiener Werkstätte, an association of contemporary decorative artists.


As indicated earlier, Klimt was also a successful portrait painter. His best known works combined sensuous images of women set in designs that often featured gold leaf reminiscent of Byzantine art.

In addition, Klimt painted landscapes. Many of these were done during his summer holidays by the shores of Attersee.

Klimt suffered a stroke in Vienna in 1918, which left him unable to paint or sketch. Bedridden, he grew depressed and fell victim to the influenza pandemic.

On the surface, Klimt's private life might appear to have been conventional. All his life, he lived in an apartment with his mother and two sisters. After his brother Ernst died, Gustav also became the guardian for his niece. Gustav never married.

But when you look a little deeper, you see that surface appearances can be deceptive. When Gustav died in 1918, the court handling his estate received 14 petitions for child support. The court concluded that three of these were proven. Such claims were consistent with the widespread rumors that Gustav had had numerous affairs with his models as well as with some of the rich ladies whose portraits he had painted.

Klimt worked long hours. In the studio, he dressed only in a loose robe and there were tales of naked models cavorting between posing for erotic drawings.

His most intense relationship was with his sister-in-law, the fashion designer Emilie Louise Floge. She appears in several of his works including “The Kiss.”

Klimt was both an artistic rebel and a very sensuous individual. These are also the hallmarks of Klimt's best works.

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Above: Klimt's best-known work "The Kiss."
Below: One of Klimt's portraits of Adele Bloch Bauer.  The picture was stolen by the Nazis and the owner's lengthy legal battle to recover it went all the way to the United States Supreme Court.  It was also depicted in a major motion picture. 

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Above:  Although Klimt focused primarily on portraits and figure paintings, he also painted some landscapes including "Avenue in Schloss Kammer Park."
Below:  Klimt explored feminine beauty in works such as "Danae."

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Artist appreciation - Gustav Klimt