Portrait of Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt Painting Reproductions 7 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

Reclining Female Nude, c.1914/15 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Reclining Female Nude c.1914/15

Paper Art Print
$47.47
SKU: KLG-10145
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 37.2 x 56.8 cm
Private Collection

The Tree of Life - Stoclet Frieze, c.1905/06 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

The Tree of Life - Stoclet Frieze c.1905/06

Oil Painting
$2476
Paper Art Print
$69.74
SKU: KLG-10564
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: unknown
MAK Museum, Vienna, Austria

Desire of Happiness (The Beethoven Frieze), 1902 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Desire of Happiness (The Beethoven Frieze) 1902

Canvas Print
$49.85
SKU: KLG-11906
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: unknown
Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

Right-Hand Edge (Stoclet Frieze), c.1905/06 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Right-Hand Edge (Stoclet Frieze) c.1905/06

Oil Painting
$942
Paper Art Print
$47.47
SKU: KLG-12206
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 194 x 120 cm
MAK Museum, Vienna, Austria

Left-Hand Portion (Stoclet Frieze), c.1905/06 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Left-Hand Portion (Stoclet Frieze) c.1905/06

Oil Painting
$946
Paper Art Print
$61.81
SKU: KLG-12207
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 197 x 105 cm
MAK Museum, Vienna, Austria

Left-Hand Edge (Stoclet Frieze), c.1905/06 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Left-Hand Edge (Stoclet Frieze) c.1905/06

Oil Painting
$942
Paper Art Print
$57.58
SKU: KLG-12208
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 197 x 115 cm
MAK Museum, Vienna, Austria

The Knight (Stoclet Frieze), c.1905/06 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

The Knight (Stoclet Frieze) c.1905/06

Oil Painting
$910
Paper Art Print
$53.70
SKU: KLG-12209
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: unknown
MAK Museum, Vienna, Austria

Right-Hand Portion (Stoclet Frieze), c.1905/06 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Right-Hand Portion (Stoclet Frieze) c.1905/06

Oil Painting
$927
Paper Art Print
$60.96
SKU: KLG-12210
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 198 x 103 cm
MAK Museum, Vienna, Austria

The Knight in Shining Armor (The Beethoven Frieze), 1902 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

The Knight in Shining Armor (The Beethoven Frieze) 1902

Oil Painting
$1231
Canvas Print
$59.88
SKU: KLG-12211
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: unknown
Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

Detail from The Hostile Powers (The Beethoven Frieze), 1902 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Detail from The Hostile Powers (The Beethoven Frieze) 1902

Oil Painting
$1308
Canvas Print
$109.94
SKU: KLG-12212
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: unknown
Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

Poster for the first art exhibition of the Secession Art Movement, 1898 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Poster for the first art exhibition of the ... 1898

Paper Art Print
$51.94
SKU: KLG-12213
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 97 x 70 cm
Wien Museum Karlsplatz, Vienna, Austria

Poetry (The Beethoven Frieze), 1902 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Poetry (The Beethoven Frieze) 1902

Canvas Print
$63.87
SKU: KLG-12214
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: unknown
Public Collection

Portrait of a Young Woman, c.1916/17 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of a Young Woman c.1916/17

Oil Painting
$668
Canvas Print
$61.13
SKU: KLG-12215
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 60 x 49 cm
Galleria d'arte moderna, Piacenza, Italy

Lady with a Muff, c.1916/17 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Lady with a Muff c.1916/17

Oil Painting
$730
SKU: KLG-17198
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 50 x 50 cm
National Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic

The Black Bull, 1900 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

The Black Bull 1900

Oil Painting
$1007
Canvas Print
$75.55
SKU: KLG-19088
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 90 x 89.5 cm
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Austria

Seated Young Girl, 1894 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Seated Young Girl 1894

Oil Painting
$1564
Canvas Print
$50.82
SKU: KLG-19089
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 140 x 96 cm
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Austria

Woman in an Armchair, c.1897/98 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Woman in an Armchair c.1897/98

Oil Painting
$701
Canvas Print
$67.53
SKU: KLG-19604
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 52 x 52 cm
Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

Mother with Two Children (Family), c.1909/10 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Mother with Two Children (Family) c.1909/10

Oil Painting
$771
Canvas Print
$75.55
SKU: KLG-19605
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 90 x 90 cm
Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

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