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.

Biography 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 an engraver who married Anna Klimt (née Finster). Klimt lived in poverty for most of his childhood. He enrolled 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 1890's that Klimt met Emilie Floge, 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 Floge family on the shores of Attersee and painted many of his landscapes there. Formally, the landscapes are characterized by the same refinement of design and emphatic patterning as the figural pieces.

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 Seccessionist 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 recorded prices of any works of art. In November of 2003, Klimt's Landhaus am Attersee sold for $29,128,000,citation needed] but that was soon to pale next to the prices paid for two other Klimts. 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 four of five works by Austrian artist Gustav 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.

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 closing sequences for the anime Elfen Lied feature are 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".