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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 was the female body, and his works are marked by a frank eroticism--nowhere is this more apparent than in his numerous drawings in pencil (see Mulher sentada, below). These female subjects, whether formal portraits or indolent nudes, invariably display a highly sensitized fin de siècle elegance.

Life and work

Early life & education

Gustav Klimt was born in Baumgarten, near Vienna, Austria, the second of seven children-- three boys and four girls. His father, Ernst Klimt, was a gold engraver, albeit financially unsuccessful, who married Anna Klimt (née Finster). Klimt lived in poverty for most of his childhood. Klimt was enrolled, at 14, in the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts (Kunstgewerbeschule) in 1876, where he studied until 1883, and received training as an architectural decorator. In 1877 his brother Ernst, who, like his father, would become an engraver, also enrolled in the school. The two brothers and their friend Franz Matsch began working together and by 1880 the three had received numerous commissions. Klimt began his professional career painting interior murals in large public buildings on the Ringstraße.

In 1888 Klimt received the Golden order of Merit from Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria for his contributions to art. He also became an honorary member of the University of Munich and the University of Vienna. In 1892 both his father and brother Ernst died. It was in the early 1890s that Klimt met Emilie Flöge, who, notwithstanding the artist's relationships with other women, was to be his companion until the end of his life.

Vienna secession years

Klimt was one of the founding members and president of the Wiener Sezession (Vienna Secession) in 1897, and of the group's periodical Ver Sacrum (Sacred Spring). He remained with the Secession until 1908.

Beginning in the late 1890s Klimt took annual summer holidays with the Flöge family on the shores of Attersee and painted many of his landscapes there. These works constitute the only genre aside from the figure that seriously interested Klimt, and are of a number and quality so as to merit a separate appreciation. Formally, the landscapes are characterized by the same refinement of design and emphatic patterning as the figural pieces. Deep space in the Attersee works is so efficiently flattened to a single plane, it is believed that Klimt painted them while looking through a telescope.

In 1894, Klimt was commissioned to create three paintings to decorate the ceiling of the Great Hall in the University of Vienna. Not completed until the turn of the century, his three paintings, Philosophy, Medicine, and Jurisprudence were criticized for their radical themes and 'pornographic' material. As a result, they were not displayed on the ceiling of the Great Hall. This would be the last public commission accepted by the artist. All three paintings were eventually destroyed by retreating SS forces in May 1945. (See Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings for more detail.)

In 1902 Klimt finished the Beethoven Frieze for the 14th Vienna Secessionist exhibition, which was intended to be a celebration of the composer. Meant for the exhibition only, the frieze was painted directly on the walls with light materials. After the exhibition the painting was preserved, although it did not go on display until 1986.

Golden phase and critical success

Gustav Klimt's 'Golden Phase' was marked by positive critical reaction and success. Many of his paintings from this period utilized gold leaf; the prominent use of gold can first be traced back to Pallas Athene (1898) and Judith I (1901), although the works most popularly associated with this period are the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907) and The Kiss (1907 - 1908).

Later life & posthumous success

In 1911 his painting Death and Life received first prize in the world exhibition in Rome. In 1915 his mother Anna died. Gustav Klimt died three years later in Vienna on February 6, 1918 of a stroke and was interred at the Hietzing Cemetery, Vienna. Numerous paintings were left unfinished.

Klimt's paintings have brought some of the highest prices recorded for individual works of art. In November of 2003, Klimt's Landhaus am Attersee sold for $29,128,000, but that was soon eclipsed by prices paid for other Klimts. In 2006 the artist's Apple Tree I (ca. 1912) sold for $33 million and Birch Forest (1903) sold for $40.3 million. Both works had been recently restituted to the heirs of Adele Bloch-Bauer.

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) as the highest reported price ever paid for a piece of art sold at a public auction, on or around June 19, 2006. This is one of the five paintings referred to below in the Legacy section and an NPR report. On August 7, 2006 Christie's auction house announced it was handling the sale of the remaining works by Klimt that were recovered by the Bloch-Bauer heirs after a long legal battle. They auctioned Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II in November 2006 for $88 million, the third-highest priced piece of art at auction at the time. Collectively the five restituted paintings, including aforementioned landscapes, netted over $327 million.

Style & recurring themes

Klimt's work is distinguished by the elegant gold or coloured decoration, often of a phallic shape that conceals the more erotic positions of the drawings upon which many of his paintings are based. This can be seen in Judith I (1901), and in The Kiss (1907–1908), and especially in Danaë (1907). One of the most common themes Klimt utilized was that of the dominant woman, the femme fatale. 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 Dürer, late medieval European painting, and Japanese Ukiyo-e. His mature works are characterized by a rejection of earlier naturalistic styles, and make use of symbols or symbolic elements to convey psychological ideas and emphasize the "freedom" of art from traditional culture.

Legacy

• Klimt's work had a strong influence on the paintings of Egon Schiele, whom he would collaborate with to found the Kunsthalle (Hall of Art) in 1917, to try and keep local artists from going abroad.
• Raúl Ruiz directed a biopic, Klimt, starring John Malkovich in the title role. The movie got its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam on January 28, 2006.
• National Public Radio reported on January 17,2006 that "The Austrian National Gallery is being compelled by a national arbitration board to return five paintings by Gustav Klimt to a Los Angeles woman, the heir of a Jewish family that had its art stolen by the Nazis. The paintings are estimated to be worth at least $150 million."
• The Japanese graphic designer and anime artist Yoshitaka Amano has cited Klimt as an influence.
• The opening and ending sequences for the anime Elfen Lied is based on Klimt's works.
• The punk/new wave rock band Siouxsie and the Banshees was deeply influenced by Klimt to the point that the cover for their critically acclaimed 1982 album "A Kiss In The Dreamhouse" and its accompanying single was based on Klimt's artwork.
• The World/Inferno Friendship Society contain a reference to Klimt in the song "Fiend in Wein".
• Many artist have been influenced by Klimt's electic and decorative style, notably Chris Ofili and Will Teather.

Selected works

• University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings
• Palais Stoclet mosaic in Brussels
• Fable (1883)
• The Theatre in Taormina (1886-1888)
• Auditorium in the Old Burgtheater, Vienna (1888)
• Portrait of Joseph Pembauer, the Pianist and Piano Teacher (1890)
• Ancient Greece II (Girl from Tanagra) (1890 - 1891)
• Portrait of a Lady (Frau Heymann?) (1894)
• Music I (1895)
• Love (1895)
• Sculpture (1896)
• Tragedy (1897)
• Music II (1898)
• Pallas Athene (1898)
• Flowing water (1898)
• Portrait of Sonja Kipps (1898)
• Fish Blood (1898)
• Schubert at the Piano (1899)
• After the Rain (Garden with Chickens in St Agatha) (1899)
• Nymphs (Sliver Fish) (1899)
• Mermaids (1899)
• Philosophy (1899–1907)
• Nuda Veritas (1899)
• Portrait of Serena Lederer (1899)
• Medicine (1900–1907)
• Music (Lithograph) (1901)
• Judith I (1901)
• Buchenwald (Birkenwald) (1901)
• Gold Fish (To my critics) (1901–1902)
• Portrait of Gertha Felsovanyi (1902)
• Portrait of Emilie Floge (1902)
• Beech Forest (1902)
• Beech Forest I (1902)
• Beethoven Frieze (1902)
• Beech woods (1903)
• Hope (1903)
• Pear Tree (1903)
• Jurisprudence (1903–1907)
• Water Serpents I (1904–1907)
• Water Serpents II (1904–1907)
• The Three Ages of Woman (1905)
• Portrait of Margaret Stonborough-Wittgenstein (1905)
• Farm Garden (Flower Garden) (1905–1906)
• Farm Garden with Sunflowers (1905-1906)
• The Stoclet Frieze (1905-1909)
• Portrait of Fritsa Reidler (1906)
• Sunflower (1906-1907)
• Hope II (1907-1908)
• Danaë (1907)
• Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907)
• Poppy Field (1907)
• Schloss Kammer on the Attersee I (1908)
• The Kiss (1907 - 1908)
• Lady with Hat and Feather Boa (1909)
• The Tree of Life (1909)
• Judith II (Salomé) (1909)
• Black Feather Hat (Lady with Feather Hat) (1910)
• Schloss Kammer on the Attersee III (1910)
• The Park (1910)
• Death and Life (1911)
• Farm Garden with Crucifix (1911-1912)
• Apple Tree (1912)
• Forester's House, Weissenbach on Lake Attersee (1912)
• Portrait of Mada Primavesi (1912)
• Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II (1912)
• The Virgins (Die Jungfrau) (1913)
• The Church in Cassone (1913)
• Semi-nude seated, reclining (1913)
• Semi-nude seated, with closed eyes (1913)
• Portrait of Eugenia Primavesi (1913-1914)
• Lovers, drawn from the right (1914)
• Portrait of Elisabeth Bachofen-Echt (1914)
• Semi-nude lying, drawn from the right (1914-1915)
• Portrait of Friederike Maria Beer (1916)
• Houses in Unterach on the Attersee (1916)
• Death and Life (1916)
• Garden Path with Chickens (1916)
• The Girl-Friends (1916-1917)
• Woman seated with thighs apart, drawing (1916-1917)
• The Dancer (1916 - 1918)
• Leda (destroyed) (1917)
• Portrait of a Lady, en face (1917-1918)
• The Bride (unfinished) (1917-1918)
• Adam and Eve (unfinished) (1917-1918)
• Portrait of Johanna Staude (unfinished) (1917-1918)

See also

• List of Austrian artists and architects
• List of Austrians
• List of most expensive paintings
• Maria Altmann
• Republic of Austria v. Altmann (Bloch-Bauer court case)

References

1. " The most important element of his fame is his reputation as a master of eroticism". Fleidel, Gottfried: "Gustav Klimt 1862-1918 The World in Female Form.", p. 14. Benedikt Taschen, 1994.
2. Fliedl, Gottfried, page 230, 1994.
3. In recognition of his intensity, the locals called him "Waldschrat", Forest Demon. Koja, Stephan, et al.: Gustav Klimt Landscapes, page 27. Prestel, 2002.
4. Anselm Wagner: "Klimt's Landscapes and the Telescope", Gustav Klimt Landscapes, pages 161-171. Prestel, 2002.
5. Nina Siegal, , Bloomberg, November 6, 2003. Accessed February 4, 2007.
6. Kinsella, Eileen: "Gold Rush", Artnews, page 111. January 2007.
7. "'Record price' for Klimt portrait". BBC News. June 19 2006. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
8. Christopher Michaud, Christie's stages record art sale, Reuter's, November 9, 2006. Accessed November 9, 2006.
9. Kinsella, Eileen, page 112, January 2007.
10. Burbank, Lunk Austria to return paintings to Jewish heir, National Public Radio, 17 January 2006.

• Hubertus Czernin. Die Fälschung: Der Fall Bloch-Bauer und das Werk Gustav Klimts. Czernin Verlag, Vienna 2006. ISBN 3-7076-0000-9
• Carl E. Schorske. "Gustav Klimt: Painting and the Crisis of the Liberal Ego" in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna: Politics and Culture. Vintage Books, 1981. ISBN 0-394-74478-0

Sources

• Gilles Neret. "Klimt". Taschen, 1993. ISBN 978-3-8228-5980-3

External links

• Web Museum Klimt page
• The Bloch-Bauer court case
• Hope in the MoMA Online Collection
• Gustav Klimt at Olga's Gallery

• Austrian painters
• Symbolist painters
• Art Nouveau
• 1862 births
• 1918 deaths