Gustav Klimt was born into an Austrian family on the 14th July 1862. He was the second of seven children. Klimt's father, Ernst Klimt was an engraver who married Anna Klimt (née finster).     

In 1876 Klimt enrolled in the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts. He received Architectural decorator training. He studied there till 1883. For seven years he learned, together with his brother Ernst and Franz Matsch, the most diverse techniques, from mosaics to fresco.
        
Klimt's style in those years was hyperrealistic, inspired by the works of Hans Makart, one of the most famous painters of the day.
His major works included paintings, murals and sketches and other art objects. Many of which are on display in the Vienna secession gallery.     

Gustav Klimt first made himself known by the decorations he executed for numerous theatres and above all for the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. At the age of 30 he moved into his own studio and turned to easel painting. He was one of the founders of the Vienna Secession, eight years later he withdrew, dismayed by the increasingly strong trend towards naturalism.

Klimt's stylistic characteristics were:-      

     
• Gold paint     
• Areas of detail and areas of abstract space     
• Symbolism      
• And mainly the female figure       

         

      In his earliest paintings Klimt was giving pride of place to women.
       
“All art is erotic” declared Adolf Loos in 'Ornament and crime'.      

Klimt met Emilie Flöge, who, notwithstanding the artists relationship with other women, was to be his companion until the end of his life.  Klimt continued to focus on the Dominant Women. He boldly painted Eve, (Nuda Veritas) the prototype of women.

Nuda Veritas includes a quotation from the dramatist Schiller:
'If you cannot please everyone with your art, please a few. To please many is bad.'     

Klimt who had previously worked hard to please his public, now acknowledged no standards but his own.     

It is not the apple that is seductive, but her body; she is displayed as she really is in her entirety, with no detail concealed
                     
In Klimt's most famous work 'The Kiss' new ground was broken, Klimt's dominating women becomes submissive. 'The Kiss' was the most important work of his 'Golden Phase' and the emblem of secession. It has been compared to the Mona Lisa, as both evoke a similar fascination.       

This time the man is clearly dominant, and takes the initiative in the kiss.          
The women seems to bear it with resignation.

It shows a couple shrouded in gold and symbols, sharing a kiss.        

Some think that Klimt himself modelled for this masterpiece, holding his beloved Emilie Flöge in his arms.       

Klimt's 'golden age' began with a portrait of Fitza Riedler, painted in 1906 and ended with a portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, in 1907.       

These feminine portraits in gold are among the most important  representations of women in his work.             

                                      

Klimt was beginning to doubt these years, The Secession, the harmony of the arts, had proven to be a Utopia.

He began to see the concept as old-fashionedn no longer ideal and decided to abandon the Secession.  Klimt found his way to Landscape painting late in life. His first known landscapes date from 1898-1900.      

Klimt did not draw sketches or studies for his lanscapes, as he did for his portraits and allergories, even though he was a studio painter.  

Landscapes were for Klimt an opportunity for calm and meditation. He greatly enjoyed this theme. 54 of his 230 paintings are landscapes.      

Klimt's work had a strong influence on the paintings of Egon Schiele, whom he would collaborate with to found the Kunsthalle (Hall of Art) in 1917.

On January 11th 1918, Klimt suffered a stroke in his apartment and later died on February 6th from Pneumonia.    

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Gustav Klimt Paintings