Gustav Klimt

  • Gustav Klimt

    Gustav Klimt
  • Biography
    The Dancer
    Black crayon on Japan paper, 55 x 34.9 cm, circa 1907 (sold)
    Biography

     Gustav Klimt is now recognized as one of the great artists of the 20th century. However, for much of the same century, he was considered peripheral, as Anglo-Saxon museums largely focused on French art. Klimt's work was dismissed as merely decorative and, therefore, hardly relevant. It is somewhat ironic that today, his paintings command the highest prices in the art market. There is further irony in the esteem now afforded to his inimitable depictions of the femme fatale and his extensive body of erotic drawings—once decried as pornographic in his lifetime.

     

    Born on 14th July, 1862, Gustav Klimt was the second of seven children. His father, Ernst Klimt, was an engraver and goldsmith. Recognized as an exceptional talent, Klimt was awarded a scholarship to the Kunstgewerbeschule des Österreichischen Museums in 1876, where he showed great promise. His early success stemmed from his ability to blend conservative artistic values with a novel sensuality. As a result, Klimt, alongside his brother Ernst and Franz Matsch, was commissioned in 1894 to decorate the ceiling of the Great Hall of the Vienna University with allegorical faculty paintings. Klimt was assigned three secular subjects: Medicine, Philosophy, and Jurisprudence. However, his avant-garde approach sparked controversy.

  • When Philosophy was exhibited in 1900, it caused a public outcry, leading to the postponement of its installation. Ironically, the...
    Standing Nude, Facing Front (Study for Beethoven Frieze),

    Black chalk on paper, 45 x 31.4 cm, circa 1902 (sold)

    When Philosophy was exhibited in 1900, it caused a public outcry, leading to the postponement of its installation. Ironically, the same painting won the Medaille d'Honneur at the Paris World Exhibition that same year. An even greater scandal erupted in response to Medicine. In March, the publication Ver Sacrum, which featured drawings of the painting, was temporarily confiscated. That same day, a parliamentary investigation into Klimt was launched. Amidst fierce criticism and public attacks, Klimt ultimately rejected the university commission in 1905. Despite this, he continued working on the series until its completion in 1907. The paintings were never installed at the university and were later acquired by August Lederer. Tragically, they were destroyed in 1945 when the retreating Nazis set fire to Schloss Immendorf.

     

    The 1902 Beethoven Exhibition offered Klimt an escape from the controversy surrounding the Faculty paintings. His Beethoven Frieze, an homage to the final movement of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, depicted the triumph of happiness over dark forces through the power of the arts. This project proved to be far more fulfilling for the embattled artist. Though conceived as a temporary installation, the frieze remained on display for a year before being dismantled and sold to the brewer Carl Reininghaus. In 1972, it was acquired by the Austrian Government from Eric Lederer.

  • A pivotal moment in Klimt’s artistic evolution came in 1903 when he visited Ravenna. Inspired by Byzantine mosaics, he incorporated...
    Portrait of a Woman with Hat
    Pencil on paper, 56 x 37.3 cm, circa 1917 (sold)
     

    A pivotal moment in Klimt’s artistic evolution came in 1903 when he visited Ravenna. Inspired by Byzantine mosaics, he incorporated a rich, golden aesthetic into his paintings. This shift is evident in works such as Portrait of Fritza Riedler (1906), Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907), and The Kiss (1907) - hallmarks of what is now known as his Golden Style.

     

    In 1904, Klimt’s close friend, Josef Hoffmann, was commissioned to design the Palais Stoclet in Brussels. Hoffmann enlisted numerous artists and designers from the Wiener Werkstätte, including Klimt, who designed the Tree of Life for the dining hall. This composition includes an embracing couple, reminiscent of his earlier Beethoven Frieze.

     

    Despite his growing acclaim, Klimt continued to face institutional opposition. In 1905, the Austrian government vetoed his appointment to a professorship. That same year, Vincent van Gogh’s work was exhibited at the Miethke Gallery in Vienna. In 1907, the final versions of Klimt’s faculty panels were shown at both the Keller and Reiner Gallery in Berlin and the Miethke Gallery. It was also in 1907 that Klimt met the young Egon Schiele. Recognizing Schiele’s prodigious talent, Klimt encouraged him but advised against formal study under him, believing Schiele’s raw genius needed no intervention. 

  • The 1909 Wiener Kunstschau exhibition featured Klimt’s Old Woman alongside works by Schiele, Kokoschka, Munch, Corinth, Vuillard, Matisse, Gauguin, and...
    Seated Semi Nude with Spread Legs (Study for The Virgin),

    Pencil and coloured pencil on paper, 56 x 37 cm, circa 1909

    The 1909 Wiener Kunstschau exhibition featured Klimt’s Old Woman alongside works by Schiele, Kokoschka, Munch, Corinth, Vuillard, Matisse, Gauguin, and Van Gogh. However, Klimt increasingly felt disconnected from the modernist movement and withdrew from public life. He spent long periods painting landscapes around the Attersee and creating intimate portraits.

     

    Despite this retreat, Klimt continued to exhibit internationally. His Three Ages of Woman (painted in 1905) was shown at the 9th International Exhibition in Venice (Biennale) in 1910, where it was acquired by the Museo d'Arte Moderna in Rome. 

     

    In his final years, Klimt’s artistic output remained prolific, yet with his withdrawal from his public life came an abandonment of the grand allegorical works. Death and Life (1910/11), marked the last of these works, the later exception being The Virgin (1913), until the end of his career when he started Girlfriends, Adam and Eve, and The Bride (all from 1918), which were left unfinished.

     

    In 1917, Klimt was finally nominated for an honorary professorship at the Vienna Academy - a long-overdue recognition.

     

    Upon returning from a trip to Romania in early 1918, Klimt suffered a stroke. He died, aged 56, in Vienna on 6thFebruary, 1918, leaving behind an extraordinary body of work, some of which would remain unfinished but nonetheless influential.

     

    Today, Klimt is celebrated as a visionary who bridged the gap between tradition and modernity. Once dismissed as decorative and controversial, his art now stands among the most revered and valuable in the world.