Beech Grove I

Gustav Klimt prints shimmer with gold, pattern and color. Klimt was an Austrian Symbolist painter and a founder of the Vienna Secession, and his work helped define the Art Nouveau style across Europe. He is best known for The Kiss and his Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I. This collection gathers art prints of his golden paintings, portraits of Viennese women, square landscapes of Lake Attersee and his expressive drawings.

About Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt was born on 14 July 1862 in Baumgarten, near Vienna, the second of seven children of a gold engraver from Bohemia. The family was poor and often moved. He studied at the Vienna School of Applied Arts, and with his brother Ernst and their friend Franz Matsch formed a company painting murals and ceilings for theaters and public buildings, in a conventional academic style.

In 1897 Klimt became a founder and the first president of the Vienna Secession, a group of artists breaking with the official art establishment. His paintings for the ceiling of the University of Vienna's Great Hall, completed around 1900, were attacked as pornographic, and afterward he accepted no more public commissions.

He found new success with the paintings of his "golden phase", many using real gold leaf, including The Kiss and Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, both of 1907. He spent summers at Lake Attersee with his companion Emilie Flöge, painting landscapes. He was a strong influence on the younger Egon Schiele. Klimt died in Vienna on 6 February 1918, after a stroke and pneumonia.

Style and Subjects

Klimt's great subject was women: portraits of elegant Viennese ladies, allegories, and the female body, often with frank sensuality. In his golden phase, figures emerge from shimmering fields of gold, spirals, circles and mosaic-like patterns inspired by Byzantine art and Japanese prints.

His landscapes are quite different, almost all square, filled to the edges with flowers, trees or the surface of a lake, with little or no sky. His many drawings, often of nude or semi-nude models, are fine, quick and expressive.

Famous Works

• Judith I (1901), Belvedere, Vienna. The biblical heroine in gold, holding the head of Holofernes.
• Beethoven Frieze (1902), Secession Building, Vienna. A great painted frieze inspired by Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.
• The Three Ages of Woman (1905), Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome. A child, a mother and an old woman.
• The Kiss (1907–1908), Belvedere, Vienna. A couple wrapped in gold, his most famous painting.
• Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907), Neue Galerie, New York. A Viennese patron surrounded by glittering gold ornament.
• Danaë (1907). The mythical princess curled up as a shower of gold falls on her.
• Death and Life (1910–1915), Leopold Museum, Vienna. Death watches a sleeping crowd of people of all ages.

Decorating with Klimt Prints

Klimt's golden paintings like The Kiss make glamorous statement pieces for a bedroom, living room or entrance hall. Their gold, ochre and jewel tones look stunning in black or gold frames against dark or neutral walls.

His square landscapes of Attersee, full of flowers and trees, bring fresh color to a kitchen, dining room or sunroom, and his delicate drawings make a refined gallery wall for a bedroom or dressing room.

FAQ

What art movement was Gustav Klimt part of?

Klimt was a Symbolist painter and a founder and first president of the Vienna Secession, the Austrian branch of Art Nouveau (Jugendstil).

What is Gustav Klimt's most famous painting?

The Kiss (1907–1908), in the Belvedere in Vienna, is his most famous work. Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907), in the Neue Galerie in New York, is also world famous.

Where can I see Klimt's original paintings?

The Belvedere in Vienna holds the largest collection of his paintings, and the Leopold Museum also has important works. The Beethoven Frieze is in the Secession Building in Vienna.

How can you recognize a Gustav Klimt painting?

Look for gold leaf and rich decorative patterns of spirals and circles, elegant women with pale faces, and square landscapes filled with flowers or trees.

What was Klimt's "golden phase"?

The golden phase was a period in the 1900s when Klimt used real gold leaf in his paintings, inspired partly by Byzantine mosaics. The Kiss and Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I are its most famous works.

Related Artists

• Egon Schiele — the younger Viennese painter he influenced and supported
• Koloman Moser — fellow founder of the Vienna Secession
• Carl Moll — Secession colleague who promoted his work
• Ernst Klimt — his brother and early partner in decorative commissions
• Franz von Matsch — partner in the Künstler-Compagnie, their early decorating firm