Portrait of Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt Painting Reproductions 5 of 7

1862-1918

Austrian Secession Painter

Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 - February 6, 1918) was an Austrian Symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Art Nouveau (Vienna Secession) movement. His major works include paintings, murals, sketches and other art objects, many of which are on display in the Vienna Secession gallery. Klimt's primary subject is the female body, and his works are marked by a frank eroticism. His pencil drawings, which are very numerous, have been regarded by many as his greatest legacy.

Life and art
Gustav Klimt was born in Baumgarten, near Vienna, Austria, the second of seven children. His father (Ernst Klimt) was an engraver and was married to Anna Klimt (nee Finster). He lived in poverty for most of his childhood.

He was educated at the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts (Kunstgewerbeschule) in the years 1879-1883, and received training as an architectural decorator. He began his professional career painting interior murals in large public buildings on the Ringstrace. Klimt was also an honorary member of the Universities of Munich and Vienna.

In 1893 Klimt was commissioned to do three paintings to decorate the ceiling of the Great Hall in the University of Vienna. His three paintings, Philosphy, Medicine and Jurisprudence were criticized for their radical themes and 'pornographic' material resulting in their not being displayed on the ceiling of the great Hall. All three paintings were eventually destroyed by retreating SS forces in May 1945. This would also be the last time Klimt accepted any public commissions to do work.

His work is distinguished by the elegant gold or coloured decoration, often phallic in shape that conceals the more erotic positions of the drawings he based many of his paintings on. This can be seen in Judith I (1901), and in The Kiss (1907-1908), and especially in Danae (1907). Art historians note an eclectic range of influences contributing to Klimt's distinct style, including Egyptian, Minoan, Classical Greek, and Byzantine inspirations. Klimt was also inspired by the engravings of Albrecht Durer, late medieval European painting, and Japanese Ukiyo-e. His works are also characterized by a rejection of earlier naturalistic styles, and the use of symbols or symbolic elements to convey psychological ideas and emphasize the "freedom" of art from traditional culture.

Klimt was one of the founding members of the Wiener Sezession (Vienna Secession) and of the periodical Ver Sacrum. He left the movement in 1908.

Klimt took annual summer holidays on the shores of Attersee and painted some of the landscapes he saw there.

He died in Vienna on February 6, 1918 of a stroke and was interred at the Hietzing Cemetery, Vienna. Numerous paintings were left unfinished.

Klimt has the distinction of being the artist with the highest selling price on a painting. Purchased for the Neue Galerie in New York by Ronald Lauder for a reported US $135 million, the 1907 portrait "Adele Bloch-Bauer I" deposed Picasso's 1905 "Boy With a Pipe" (sold May 5, 2004 for $104 million) on or around June 19, 2006.

162 Klimt Paintings

Schonbrunn Park, 1916 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Schonbrunn Park 1916

Oil Painting
$1177
Canvas Print
$75.58
SKU: KLG-10097
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: unknown
Universalmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria

Frederick I von Zollern, 1885 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Frederick I von Zollern 1885

Oil Painting
$1230
Canvas Print
$49.87
SKU: KLG-10098
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: unknown
Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

Isabella d'Este (after Titian), 1885 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Isabella d'Este (after Titian) 1885

Oil Painting
$1271
SKU: KLG-10099
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: unknown
Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

Forester's House in Weissenbach on the Attersee, 1914 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Forester's House in Weissenbach on the Attersee 1914

Oil Painting
$2041
Canvas Print
$75.58
SKU: KLG-10100
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 110 x 110 cm
Neue Galerie, New York, USA

The Park of Schloss Kammer, c.1910 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

The Park of Schloss Kammer c.1910

Oil Painting
$2084
Canvas Print
$75.58
SKU: KLG-10101
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 110 x 110 cm
Private Collection

Kammer Castle on the Attersee IV, c.1910 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Kammer Castle on the Attersee IV c.1910

Oil Painting
$2098
SKU: KLG-10102
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 110 x 110 cm
Private Collection

The Litzlbergkeller on the Attersee, c.1912/16 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

The Litzlbergkeller on the Attersee c.1912/16

Oil Painting
$1130
SKU: KLG-10103
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: unknown
Private Collection

The Apple Tree II, 1916 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

The Apple Tree II 1916

Oil Painting
$1042
Canvas Print
$75.58
SKU: KLG-10104
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 80 x 80 cm
Private Collection

Fruit Trees, 1901 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Fruit Trees 1901

Oil Painting
$1419
Canvas Print
$75.58
SKU: KLG-10105
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 90 x 90 cm
Private Collection

Orchard, 1898 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Orchard 1898

Oil Painting
$474
Canvas Print
$49.87
SKU: KLG-10106
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 39 x 28 cm
Private Collection

A Morning by the Pond, 1899 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

A Morning by the Pond 1899

Oil Painting
$1002
Canvas Print
$75.58
SKU: KLG-10107
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 75 x 75 cm
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Austria

The Tall Poplar I, 1900 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

The Tall Poplar I 1900

Oil Painting
$1127
Canvas Print
$75.58
SKU: KLG-10108
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 80 x 80 cm
Neue Galerie, New York, USA

Farmhouse in Kammer am Attersee, 1901 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Farmhouse in Kammer am Attersee 1901

Oil Painting
$1419
Canvas Print
$75.58
SKU: KLG-10109
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 88 x 88 cm
Private Collection

Pine Forest II, 1901 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Pine Forest II 1901

Oil Painting
$1842
SKU: KLG-10110
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 89 x 90 cm
Private Collection

Pine Forest I, 1902 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Pine Forest I 1902

Oil Painting
$2137
Canvas Print
$75.58
SKU: KLG-10111
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 90 x 89 cm
Private Collection

Waldinneres (In the Middle of the Forest), c.1881/87 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Waldinneres (In the Middle of the Forest) c.1881/87

Oil Painting
$385
Canvas Print
$49.87
SKU: KLG-10112
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 11.7 x 15.9 cm
Private Collection

Lady's Face with Crimp Dress, c.1898 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Lady's Face with Crimp Dress c.1898

Oil Painting
$652
Canvas Print
$49.87
SKU: KLG-10113
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 43.4 x 33.9 cm
Private Collection

Secluded Pond, 1881 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Secluded Pond 1881

Oil Painting
$551
SKU: KLG-10114
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: unknown
Private Collection

Portrait of a Lady in White, c.1917/18 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of a Lady in White c.1917/18

Oil Painting
$574
Canvas Print
$75.58
SKU: KLG-10115
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 70 x 70 cm
Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

Baby (Cradle), c.1917/18 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Baby (Cradle) c.1917/18

Oil Painting
$1245
Canvas Print
$49.87
SKU: KLG-10116
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 110.9 x 110.4 cm
National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA

Portrait of Amalie Zuckerkandl, c.1917/18 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of Amalie Zuckerkandl c.1917/18

Oil Painting
$1232
Canvas Print
$75.58
SKU: KLG-10117
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 128 x 128 cm
Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

Portrait of Friederike Maria Beer-Monti, 1916 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of Friederike Maria Beer-Monti 1916

Oil Painting
$1395
Canvas Print
$49.87
SKU: KLG-10118
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 168 x 130 cm
Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel

Medicine, c.1897/98 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Medicine c.1897/98

Oil Painting
$1114
Canvas Print
$49.87
SKU: KLG-10119
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 72 x 55 cm
Private Collection

Flowing Water, 1889 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Flowing Water 1889

Oil Painting
$996
Canvas Print
$84.45
SKU: KLG-10120
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 52 x 65 cm
Private Collection

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