Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt, an Austrian symbolist painter and prominent member of the Vienna Secession movement, was born in Baumgarten, near Vienna in the Austrian Empire. He was known for his paintings, murals, and sketches, with a primary focus on the female body and landscapes.

In 1876, Gustav Klimt enrolled in the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts where he studied until 1883. He received training as an architectural painter and admired the prominent history painter of the time, Hans Makart. Klimt, along with his brother and friend, formed the 'Company of Artists' and began receiving commissions for interior murals and ceilings.

At the age of 17, Gustav Klimt painted a portrait of his father, showcasing his early talent and skill in capturing the likeness of his subjects.

In 1888, Gustav Klimt received the Golden Order of Merit from Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria in recognition of his contributions to art.

In 1890, Gustav Klimt and Ernst were tasked with adorning the ceiling and staircase of the newly constructed Burgtheater in Vienna.

Towards the end of the 19th century, Gustav Klimt incorporated Nuda Veritas (naked truth) as a symbolic figure in his works like Ancient Greece and Egypt (1891), Pallas Athene (1898), and Nuda Veritas (1899), symbolically denouncing the policies of the Habsburgs and Austrian society.

A portrait of Joseph Pembauer, a pianist and piano teacher, was created on December 9, 1892. The painting is 69 x 55 cm in size and is an oil on canvas piece located at Tiroler Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum in Innsbruck.

In 1894, Gustav Klimt was commissioned to create three paintings, Philosophy, Medicine, and Jurisprudence, for the ceiling of the Great Hall of the University of Vienna. These paintings were later criticized for their radical themes and deemed 'pornographic', leading to public outcry and their eventual destruction in 1945.

In 1897, Gustav Klimt became one of the founding members and the president of the Vienna Secession, a group aimed at promoting unconventional young artists and showcasing their work.

In 1898, the Ministry of Education requested Gustav Klimt to create a series of designs representing Philosophy, Medicine, and Jurisprudence for the ceiling of the Great Hall at Vienna University, symbolizing the three faculties of the institution.

In 1899, Gustav Klimt created the painting 'Nuda Veritas', featuring a naked red-headed woman holding a mirror of truth. The artwork symbolized Klimt's defiance against traditional norms and his desire to challenge the establishment.

Around 1900, Gustav Klimt faced controversy over the paintings he completed for the ceiling of the Great Hall of the University of Vienna. The works were criticized as pornographic, leading Klimt to stop accepting public commissions. This period marked a shift in his artistic style.

Klimt's painting Judith I from 1901 features elegant gold or colored decoration with erotic positions concealed within phallic shapes.

In 1902, Gustav Klimt finished the Beethoven Frieze for the 14th Vienna Secessionist exhibition, a celebration of the composer featuring a monumental sculpture by Max Klinger. The frieze was initially intended for the exhibition only and was painted directly on the walls with light materials, later preserved and displayed in 1986.

In 1904, Gustav Klimt collaborated with other artists on the Palais Stoclet, a lavish residence in Brussels. His contributions to the dining room, including 'Fulfillment' and 'Expectation', showcased some of his finest decorative work and marked a significant stage in his development of ornament.

In 1905, Gustav Klimt painted The Three Ages of Woman, which depicts the cycle of life.

In 1906, Gustav Klimt painted a portrait of fashionable Viennese matron Fritza Riedler, treating the human figure without shadow and emphasizing lush sensuality.

Hope, II is an oil, gold, and platinum on canvas painting by Gustav Klimt, completed in 1907-08. It is displayed in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, measuring 110.5 × 110.5 cm.

The Kiss is an oil on canvas painting created by Gustav Klimt in 1908-09. It is housed in the Belvedere Museum in Vienna and measures 180 × 180 cm.

Between 1909-11, Gustav Klimt painted murals in the dining room of the Stoclet House in Brussels, known for their precisely linear drawing and decorative use of color and gold leaf.

In 1911, Gustav Klimt won the First Prize in an exhibition in Rome for his painting 'Death and Life', which measures 178 x 198 cm.

A painting created in 1913 depicting naked humans from different eras, symbolizing life with bright colors and death with darker tones.

Klimt collaborated with Egon Schiele to found the Kunsthalle in 1917 to prevent local artists from going abroad, influencing the art scene.

Gustav Klimt passed away in 1918. He was noted for his controversial works, including the paintings he completed for the ceiling of the Great Hall of the University of Vienna, which were criticized as pornographic. Klimt's influence on the art world continued even after his death.

Released in Vienna in 1919 by Gilhofer & Ranschburg, this collection of twenty-five monochrome and two-color collotype reproductions features erotic drawings that were just as controversial as Klimt's painted works. Some art historians suspect Klimt's involvement in the production planning due to the meticulous nature of the printing.

Composed in 1931 by editor Max Eisler and printed by the Austrian State Printing Office, Gustav Klimt An Aftermath was intended to complete the lifetime folio Das Werk Gustav Klimts. The folio contains thirty colored collotypes and follows a similar format found in Das Werk Gustav Klimts.

The painting 'Life and Death' by Gustav Klimt was destroyed in 1945 by a fire set by retreating German forces at Schloss Immendorf, Austria.

In 1972, the Vienna State Opera presented a new production of Salome, an opera by Oscar Wilde and Richard Strauss, featuring a Klimt inspired stage setting and costumes by Jürgen Rose. Directed by Boleslaw Barlog and conducted by Karl Böhm, this production became extremely popular and remained in the repertoire for almost fifty years.

In 1990, the art historian and curator Marian Bisanz-Prakken took over the research project on Gustav Klimt's drawings from Alice Strobl. Since then, Bisanz-Prakken has further redefined, documented, and processed around 400 additional drawings, contributing to the extensive research efforts at the Albertina Vienna.

In 2000, a government committee recommended returning Klimt's Lady with Hat and Feather Boa from the Belvedere Museum in Vienna to the Jewish family who owned it before the Nazi Anschluss.

On November 5, 2003, the Austrian Mint issued the 100 Euro Painting Gold Coin featuring Gustav Klimt in his studio with two unfinished paintings on easels, honoring the artist's legacy.

The Austrian National Gallery was compelled to return five paintings by Gustav Klimt to Maria Altmann, a Los Angeles based woman and heir of a Jewish family whose art was looted by the Nazis. This event inspired the movie Woman in Gold.

On or around June 19, 2006, Klimt's portrait Adele Bloch-Bauer I was purchased by Ronald Lauder for $135 million, surpassing the previous record price for a piece of art sold at a public auction.

Christie's auction house announced the sale of four works by Klimt recovered by Maria Altmann and her co-heirs after a legal battle against Austria. The paintings were featured in documentaries like Adele's Wish and inspired the film Woman in Gold.

In 2009, the Lentos Art Museum in Linz restituted Klimt's Portrait of Ria Munk III to the heirs of Aranka Munk, a Jewish art collector who perished in the Holocaust. The portrait was of her daughter.

The painting Litzlberg am Attersee by Klimt was auctioned for $40.4 million in November 2011.

The Austrian Mint started a five-coin gold series in 2012 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Gustav Klimt's birth. The first coin, a 50 Euro gold coin, was released on 25 January 2012, featuring a portrait of Klimt and a section of his painting of Adele Bloch-Bauer.

On July 14, 2012, Google commemorated Gustav Klimt with a Google Doodle featuring his painting 'The Kiss' in celebration of the artist's 150th birthday.

In 2013, the Gustav Klimt Foundation was founded by Ursula Ucicky, aiming to preserve and promote Gustav Klimt's artistic legacy. Peter Weinhäupl, the managing director of the Leopold Museum, was appointed as the foundation's Chairman.

In 2021, the French minister of culture declared that Klimt's Rosebushes Under the Trees, the only Klimt painting in France's national collections, was Nazi loot and should be returned to the heirs of the Jewish family persecuted by the Nazis.

Klimt's last painting, Lady with a Fan, was sold by Sotheby's in London for UK£85.3M to a Hong Kong collector, becoming the highest-priced artwork ever sold at auction in Europe.