Portrait of Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt Painting Reproductions 2 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

Portrait of a Lady (Frau Haymann), c.1894 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of a Lady (Frau Haymann) c.1894

Oil Painting
$889
Canvas Print
$50.85
SKU: KLG-2652
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 39 x 23 cm
Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria

Portrait of Sonja Knips, c.1897/98 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of Sonja Knips c.1897/98

Oil Painting
$2778
Canvas Print
$77.07
SKU: KLG-2653
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 145 x 146 cm
Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

Portrait of Marie Henneberg, c.1901/02 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Portrait of Marie Henneberg c.1901/02

Oil Painting
$1653
Canvas Print
$50.85
SKU: KLG-2654
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 140 x 140 cm
Moritzburg State Gallery, Halle, Germany

Mermaids (Whitefish), c.1899 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Mermaids (Whitefish) c.1899

Oil Painting
$1053
Canvas Print
$67.25
SKU: KLG-2655
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 82 x 52 cm
Private Collection

Nude Veritas, 1899 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Nude Veritas 1899

Oil Painting
$1369
Canvas Print
$50.85
SKU: KLG-2656
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 252 x 56 cm
Theatre Collection of the National Librady, Vienna, Austria

Garden Path with Chickens, 1916 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Garden Path with Chickens 1916

Oil Painting
$2330
Canvas Print
$77.07
SKU: KLG-2657
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 110 x 110 cm
Destroyed by Fire at Immendorf Palace in 1945

Farm Garden with Crucifix, c.1911/12 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Farm Garden with Crucifix c.1911/12

Oil Painting
$2382
Canvas Print
$77.07
SKU: KLG-2658
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 110 x 110 cm
Destroyed by Fire at Immendorf Palace in 1945

Attersee, 1915 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Attersee 1915

Oil Painting
$2225
Canvas Print
$77.07
SKU: KLG-2659
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 111 x 111 cm
Rupertinum Museum, Salzburg, Austria

Avenue in Schloss Kammer Park, 1912 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Avenue in Schloss Kammer Park 1912

Oil Painting
$2330
Canvas Print
$77.07
SKU: KLG-2660
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 110 x 110 cm
Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

Farm Garden with Sunflowers, 1906 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Farm Garden with Sunflowers 1906

Oil Painting
$2382
Canvas Print
$77.07
SKU: KLG-2661
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 110 x 110 cm
Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

The Park, 1910 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

The Park 1910

Oil Painting
$2382
Canvas Print
$77.07
SKU: KLG-2662
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 110.4 x 110.4 cm
Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA

Kammer Castle at Attersee I, 1908 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Kammer Castle at Attersee I 1908

Oil Painting
$2330
Canvas Print
$77.07
SKU: KLG-2663
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 110 x 110 cm
National Gallery, Prague, Czech Republic

Landscape Garden (Meadow in Flowers), c.1905/06 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Landscape Garden (Meadow in Flowers) c.1905/06

Oil Painting
$2382
SKU: KLG-2664
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 110 x 110 cm
Private Collection

Apple Tree I, 1912 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Apple Tree I 1912

Oil Painting
$2382
Canvas Print
$77.07
SKU: KLG-2665
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 109 x 110 cm
Private Collection

Farmhouse in Upper Austria, 1911 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Farmhouse in Upper Austria 1911

Oil Painting
$2382
Canvas Print
$77.07
SKU: KLG-2666
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 110 x 110 cm
Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

Poppy Field, 1907 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Poppy Field 1907

Oil Painting
$2382
Canvas Print
$77.07
SKU: KLG-2667
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 110 x 110 cm
Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

Malcesine on Lake Garda, 1913 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Malcesine on Lake Garda 1913

Oil Painting
$2330
SKU: KLG-2668
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 110 x 110 cm
Destroyed by Fire at Immendorf Palace in 1945

Church at Unterach at Attersee, c.1916/17 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Church at Unterach at Attersee c.1916/17

Oil Painting
$1565
Canvas Print
$77.07
SKU: KLG-2669
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 110 x 110 cm
Private Collection

Houses at Unterach on the Attersee, c.1916 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Houses at Unterach on the Attersee c.1916

Oil Painting
$1189
Canvas Print
$77.07
SKU: KLG-2670
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 110 x 110 cm
Private Collection

Birch Woods, 1903 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Birch Woods 1903

Oil Painting
$2382
Canvas Print
$77.07
SKU: KLG-2671
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 110 x 110 cm
Private Collection

Beech Forest I (Buchenwald), c.1905 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Beech Forest I (Buchenwald) c.1905

Oil Painting
$1814
Canvas Print
$77.07
SKU: KLG-2672
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 100 x 100 cm
Galerie Neue Meister, Dresden, Germany

After the Rain, 1898 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

After the Rain 1898

Oil Painting
$996
Canvas Print
$50.85
SKU: KLG-2673
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 80 x 40 cm
Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

Island in the Attersee, c.1901/02 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Island in the Attersee c.1901/02

Oil Painting
$1310
Canvas Print
$77.07
SKU: KLG-2674
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 100.5 x 100.5 cm
Private Collection

Farmhouse with Birch Trees, 1900 by Klimt | Painting Reproduction

Farmhouse with Birch Trees 1900

Oil Painting
$1189
Canvas Print
$77.07
SKU: KLG-2675
Gustav Klimt
Original Size: 80 x 81 cm
Private Collection

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