Artist Profile: Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt was born on July 14th, 1862 in Baumgarden, in the Austrian Empire. He passed away on February 6th, 1918. His father was Ernst Klimt the Elder, a gold engraver. His mother was Anna Klimt, a woman who wanted to be a musical performed, but never had her dreams recognized. He had a total of seven siblings, three brothers and four sisters. When he was a young man, he attended the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts.

Although Klimt was extremely secretive about his love life, it is known that he was very much sexually active. Many people don't know that he fathered at least fourteen children in his life, but never married. In fact, he lived with his mother until her death. He is known for having affairs with many of the females whole modeled for him. He had a lifelong association with Emilie Floge, although the exact nature of their relationship is unclear. One of his most famous affairs was said to have been with Adele Bloch-Bauer, the only woman who sat for him twice.



Gustav Klimt was born into poverty. The slowly worked up towards a livable income, spending his early years as a poor man. In 1894, Klimt was asked to paint the ceiling of the Great Hall at the University of Vienna. The three paintings, Philosophy, Medicine, and Jurisprudence, in English, were considered to be too graphic for the average audience. Klimt, known as a master of eroticism, struggled in these early days. In 1897, he became one of the founders and the president of the Vienna Secession. This group helped to provide exhibits and display the work of young, unconventional artists. He stayed with his project until 1908. During his gold phase, Klimt began to receive real success. He used gold and silver leaf in his paintings, and he was starting to become recognized as a genius. He also received success later in his life, painting Life and Death, which received acclaim. He died of what appeared to have been a stroke.

Klimt faced many challenges in his life, having been born into poverty, and losing his father and his brother, Ernst, fairly early on in his life. This left him responsible for both of their families, financially. Also, some of his work was, for a time, considered to be too pornographic for the normal audience. One of the greatest examples of this was the reaction he received after painting on the ceiling of the Great Hall. Many considered his work in the University of Vienna to be too graphic.

Klimt used mainly oil and gold and silver leaf on canvas. He was considered to be a master of Symbolism, Art Nouveau, and Modernism. Three of his most famous paintings include The  Kiss, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, and The Virgin.

Although I love much of Klimt's work, two of works that truly fascinate me are The Kiss and Life and Death. The Kiss was considered to be the most famous of Klimt's paintings, it is the visual of a man and woman crouching in a flower field. Life and Death is said to be about the the ever present threat of death, but that it will never break the cycle of life.