Portrait of Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt Painting Reproductions 1 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

The Kiss, c.1907/08 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

The Kiss c.1907/08

Oil Painting
$1151
Canvas Print
$76.11
SKU: KLG-2628
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 180 x 180 cm
Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

The Three Ages of Woman, 1905 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

The Three Ages of Woman 1905

Oil Painting
$1394
Canvas Print
$77.35
SKU: KLG-2629
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 178 x 198 cm
Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome, Italy

Death and Life, c.1910/15 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Death and Life c.1910/15

Oil Painting
$2157
Canvas Print
$68.09
SKU: KLG-2630
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 178 x 198 cm
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Austria

Hope I, 1903 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Hope I 1903

Oil Painting
$1246
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: KLG-2631
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 189.2 x 67 cm
National Gallery of Art, Ottawa, Canada

Hope II, c.1907/08 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Hope II c.1907/08

Oil Painting
$1229
Canvas Print
$76.11
SKU: KLG-2632
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 110.5 x 110.5 cm
Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA

Water Serpents I, c.1904/07 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Water Serpents I c.1904/07

Oil Painting
$1229
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: KLG-2633
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 50 x 20 cm
Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

Gold Fish, c.1901/02 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Gold Fish c.1901/02

Oil Painting
$1326
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: KLG-2634
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 181 x 66.5 cm
Dubi-Muller Foundation, Solothurn, Switzerland

Judith II (Salome), 1909 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Judith II (Salome) 1909

Oil Painting
$1086
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: KLG-2635
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 178 x 46 cm
Galleria d'Arte Moderne, Venice, Italy

Judith I, 1901 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Judith I 1901

Oil Painting
$981
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: KLG-2636
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 84 x 42 cm
Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

Danae, c.1907/08 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Danae c.1907/08

Oil Painting
$829
Canvas Print
$70.44
SKU: KLG-2637
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 77 x 83 cm
Universalmuseum Joanneum, Graz, Austria

The Virgin (The Maiden), 1913 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

The Virgin (The Maiden) 1913

Oil Painting
$1358
Canvas Print
$88.09
SKU: KLG-2638
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 190 x 200 cm
National Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic

The Dancer, c.1916/18 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

The Dancer c.1916/18

Oil Painting
$1664
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: KLG-2639
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 180 x 90 cm
Private Collection

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II, 1912 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II 1912

Oil Painting
$1296
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: KLG-2640
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 190 x 120 cm
Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

Portrait of Emilie Floge, 1902 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of Emilie Floge 1902

Oil Painting
$1951
Canvas Print
$53.23
SKU: KLG-2641
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 181 x 84 cm
Wien Museum Karlsplatz, Vienna, Austria

Portait of Margaret Stonborough-Whittgenstein, 1905 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Portait of Margaret Stonborough-Whittgenstein 1905

Oil Painting
$1296
Canvas Print
$63.60
SKU: KLG-2642
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 179.8 x 90.5 cm
Neue Pinakothek, Munich, Germany

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, 1907 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I 1907

Oil Painting
$1661
Canvas Print
$76.11
SKU: KLG-2643
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 138 x 138 cm
Neue Galerie, New York, USA

Portrait of Fritza Riedler, 1906 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of Fritza Riedler 1906

Oil Painting
$1857
Canvas Print
$66.15
SKU: KLG-2644
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 152 x 134 cm
Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

Portrait of Mada Primavesi, 1912 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of Mada Primavesi 1912

Oil Painting
$1229
Canvas Print
$92.90
SKU: KLG-2645
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 149.9 x 110.5 cm
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, USA

Portrait of Eugenia Primavesi, c.1913/14 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of Eugenia Primavesi c.1913/14

Oil Painting
$1265
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: KLG-2646
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 140 x 84 cm
Private Collection

Portrait of Hermine Gallia, 1904 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of Hermine Gallia 1904

Oil Painting
$1246
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: KLG-2647
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 170.5 x 96.5 cm
National Gallery, London, United Kingdom

Girl Friends, c.1916/17 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Girl Friends c.1916/17

Oil Painting
$1185
Canvas Print
$76.11
SKU: KLG-2648
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 99 x 99 cm
Destroyed by Fire at Immendorf Palace in 1945

Water Serpents II, c.1904/07 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Water Serpents II c.1904/07

Oil Painting
$1454
Canvas Print
$70.02
SKU: KLG-2649
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 80 x 145 cm
Private Collection

Music I, 1895 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Music I 1895

Oil Painting
$894
Canvas Print
$50.22
SKU: KLG-2650
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 27.5 x 35.5 cm
Neue Pinakothek, Munich, Germany

Schubert at the Piano, 1899 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Schubert at the Piano 1899

Oil Painting
$2096
Canvas Print
$63.54
SKU: KLG-2651
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 150 x 200 cm
Destroyed by Fire at Immendorf Palace in 1945

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