Gustav Klimt was the most important Austrian Jugendstil painter.
He was the son of gold engraver Ernst Klimt (1834-1892) from
Bohemia. Together with his brother Ernst he was a pupil of Ferdinand
Laufberger and Julius Victor Berger. With Frank Matsch they
founded the Künstler Compagnie that specialised in decorative
paintings (1883-1892). The company made paintings in the Kunsthistorisches
Museum, Vienna.
In 1897 Klimt became the first president
of the Sezession. His famous Beethoven Fries (1902) is still
on view at the building of the Sezession in Vienna. Unfortunately
his paintings for the ceilings for the University in Vienna
(1900-1903) were very unpopular. They were destroyed in 1945.
In 1902 he painted the portrait of Emily Flöge, who was also
his mistress. Alma Mahler declined to make love in his studio
when he was painting her portrait.
He was a close friend
of Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser, the founders of the Wiener
Werkstätte. Klimt and his followers left the Sezession in 1905
and Klimt became president of the new Künstlerbund. In 1905
he exhibited 15 works in Berlin and he received the Villa Romana
Prize. In 1906 he visited Belgium and England and in 1908 he
travelled to Florence. In 1909 he went to Paris, Madrid and
in 1914 he visited Brussels again.
His painting "The
Kiss" was created in 1907/1908 and it was immediately bought
by the Imperial Ministry of Culture and Education. In Vienna
he painted mostly portrtaits. From 1900 until 1916 he spent
most of his summers at Lake Attersee and there he painted landscapes.
In 1917 his fourth application to become a professor at the
Academy of Fine Arts was rejected by the responsible ministry.
On 11 January 1918 he suffered a stroke and he died on 6 February
1918.
He had relationships with many different women.
He might be the father of at least fourteen children, but much
remains unclear.
Related persons
• was influenced by Alma-Tadema, Laura Theresa
• was supported by Bahr, Hermann
• had work in posession of Bahr, Hermann
• used as a model Bahr-Mildenburg, Anna von
• painted Bloch-Bauer, Adele
• was influenced by Burne-Jones, Edward, 1st Baronet
• painted Flöge, Emily
• was a friend of Flöge, Emily
• was a friend of Hoffmann, Josef
• is brother/sister of Klimt, Ernst
• cooperated with Klimt, Ernst
• influenced Kokoschka, Oskar
• has a connection with Luksch, Richard Josef
• was a friend of Mahler, Alma
• was influenced by Makart, Hans
• cooperated with Moll, Carl
• painted Pembaur, Josef
• painted Primavesi, Mäda
• influenced Schiele, Egon
• has a connection with Ucicky, Gustav
• was visited by Vollmoeller, Karl
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