Klimt's father was a gold engraver from Bohemia. His mother wanted to be a musician but never got the chance. Between them they produced a boy who would cover paintings in actual gold leaf and call it fine art. The family were poor; the goldwork was not metaphorical.
Key facts
- Lived
- 1862–1918, Austrian[10]
- Movements
- [10]
- Works held in
- 29 museums[1]
- Wikipedia
- View article
Biography
He enrolled at Vienna's School of Applied Arts at fourteen, trained as an architectural decorator, and spent his twenties painting ceilings in theatres and public buildings. Respectable, competent, conventional work. Then his brother Ernst died in 1892[10], and something shifted. The decorative commissions stopped looking like enough.
In 1897[10], Klimt co-founded the Vienna Secession with a group of artists who had decided the local art establishment was suffocating. He became its first president. Two years later he exhibited Philosophy, one of three ceiling panels commissioned for the University of Vienna[5]. The faculty called it pornographic. Philosophy showed tangled nude bodies drifting through space, which was not what the university had ordered. He painted the other two panels anyway. The protests ran for years. He eventually returned the fee and kept the paintings.
The gold period followed: The Kiss, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, the Stoclet Frieze. Trips to Ravenna and its Byzantine mosaics gave him the visual language. His father's craft gave him the technique. The portraits of wealthy Viennese women, flat and ornamental and strangely confrontational, became the work people remember.
He never married. He had a decades-long relationship with the fashion designer Emilie Floge, who was his brother's sister-in-law. He is thought to have fathered at least fourteen children with various models. The Ministry of Education rejected his application for a professorship four times. They made him an honorary member of the Academy of Fine Arts in 1917[10], a year before he died of pneumonia following a stroke.
Timeline
- 1862Born on 14 July in Baumgarten, a suburb of Vienna, the second of seven children. His father was a gold engraver of Bohemian peasant origin.
- 1876Won a scholarship to the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts at 14, where he studied architectural painting for seven years.
- 1892Both his father and brother Ernst died within months of each other. Aged 30, he began to reject academic naturalism for a more personal, symbolist style.
- 1897Co-founded the Vienna Secession aged 35, serving as its first president. The group broke from the conservative Vienna Artists' Association.
- 1907Completed The Kiss aged 45. The painting was purchased by the Belvedere Museum before it was even finished and remains his most celebrated work.
- 1918Suffered a stroke on 11 January aged 55 and died in Vienna on 6 February from pneumonia brought on by the Spanish influenza pandemic.
Notable Works
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Where to See Gustav Klimt
26 museums worldwide.
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43 works
Belvedere
Vienna, Austria
Vienna's Belvedere holds 43 Klimt works, the strongest concentration anywhere. The Kiss (1907) from his Golden Phase hangs here, as does Judith I (1901), the first of his biblical femmes fatales. Both entered the collection soon after they left his studio.
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9 works
Vienna Museum
Vienna Museum at Karlsplatz, Austria
The Wien Museum at Karlsplatz owns nine Klimts drawn from the city's own commissions and civic gifts. Its strength lies in early allegorical drawings and portrait studies, the preparatory material behind the gilded paintings now kept a short walk away at the Belvedere.
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8 works
Leopold Museum
MuseumsQuartier, Austria
Vienna's Leopold Museum, built around Rudolf Leopold's private collection of Austrian modernism, holds eight Klimts inside the MuseumsQuartier. Death and Life (1910), his allegorical confrontation of the two, is the centrepiece, with Danaë (1907) giving the golden myth its most sensual Austrian reading.
Related Artists
Frequently Asked Questions
Did gustav klimt have syphilis?
Alma Mahler noted in her diary that when she had longed for Gustav Klimt, she did not know that he was syphilitic.Did gustav klimt paint cats?
Gustav Klimt had a passion for beautiful art and women, but most of all for cats. His studio was always full of pet felines, as well as the beautiful models he painted.How did gustav klimt die?
Gustav Klimt died in 1918[10] at the age of 56.Is gustav klimt art nouveau?
Some scholars have noted similarities between aspects of Art Nouveau[10] and contemporary art, and have traced the source of several elements of artistic tendencies to Art Nouveau. The predominance of gold paint in his work also reflects Gustav Klimt's interest in many other art forms and styles.Is gustav klimt public domain?
The provided text indicates that the 'Masters of Art - Gustav Klimt' publication is copyrighted by Delphi Classics in 2014.Was gustav klimt married?
Gustav Klimt never married. However, he had a decades-long relationship with fashion designer Emilie Floge, and is thought to have fathered at least fourteen children with various models.What is gustav klimt best known for?
Gustav Klimt was fascinated by feminine seductiveness, which he glorified with dazzling clothing and settings in a hymn to beauty. He was an acclaimed artist and enjoyed the recognition of the value of his painting as an interpreter of Viennese magnificence.What is Gustav Klimt's most famous work?
Gustav Klimt's most famous work is generally considered to be *The Kiss*. This painting, now housed in the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere museum in Vienna, is seen as a masterpiece of the early modern period. Completed in 1909[10], the square composition depicts an embracing couple adorned in elaborate robes. These robes show the influence of both the Jugendstil style and the Arts and Crafts movement. The use of gold leaf is reminiscent of medieval "gold-ground" paintings, illuminated manuscripts, and mosaics. The spiral patterns in the clothing also echo Bronze Age art. Klimt's travels in Italy, where he saw the Byzantine mosaics in Ravenna, influenced the work. The use of gold, and the fragmentation of forms into small patterns, are strongly reminiscent of mosaic techniques. The simplified, frieze-like composition also reflects the influence of Japanese prints. The painting was enthusiastically received upon its unveiling and was immediately purchased.What style or movement did Gustav Klimt belong to?
Gustav Klimt is associated with Art Nouveau[10], an international style that appeared in the 1890s. It manifested across media, from sculpture to prints. Art Nouveau drew inspiration from natural forms, favouring asymmetry and elongated shapes. Klimt's influences included Impressionism and Symbolism, plus artistic traditions ranging from Dürer to Japanese art, and ancient Egyptian art. Early in his career, Klimt completed work begun by Hans Makart in the Kunsthistorisches Museum. With partners, he produced woodcuts based on Dürer for Emperor Franz Josef's silver wedding anniversary. From 1886[10] to 1888, he worked in the Burgtheater. By this time, Klimt's artistic skill had advanced beyond that of his colleagues. He became known for realistic portraits. In 1888, the emperor awarded him the Golden Cross of Merit, and he became an honorary member of the Universities of Munich and Vienna. Despite this public recognition, Klimt wanted to develop a new artistic style.Where can i see gustav klimt paintings?
Gustav Klimt's works can be seen at Belvedere, Vienna Museum, Leopold Museum, and 2 other museums worldwide.Where can I see Gustav Klimt's work?
Gustav Klimt's paintings and drawings have been featured in many exhibitions since 1903[10]. These exhibitions have occurred at venues such as the Wiener Secession (Vienna), the Kunstschau Wien (Vienna), the Große Kunstausstellung (Dresden), and the Deutsche Künstlerbundausstellung (Berlin). Klimt's work was also displayed at international exhibitions in Venice (1910, 1911), Rome (1911), Munich (1913), Prague (1914), and Paris (1937). After Klimt's death in 1918[10], memorial exhibitions were held in Vienna and other European cities. Today, Klimt's works can be found in numerous public collections. Catalogues list principal works by Klimt in collections, arranged alphabetically by city. These catalogues provide details such as title, date, technique, support, size, and location. Examples of museums that have held Klimt's work include the Neue Galerie am Landesmuseum Joanneum (Graz), the Österreichische Galerie (Vienna), the Albertina (Vienna), the Narodni Galerie (Prague), and the Museum of Modern Art (New York).
Sources
Editorial draws on the following primary and tertiary references for Gustav Klimt.
- [1] museum Bank Austria Kunstforum Wien Used for: museum holdings.
- [2] museum National Gallery Prague Used for: museum holdings.
- [3] museum Galleria Internazionale d'Arte Moderna Used for: museum holdings.
- [4] museum Lentos Art Museum Used for: museum holdings.
- [5] museum University of Vienna Used for: museum holdings.
- [6] museum Kunsthaus Zug Used for: museum holdings.
- [7] academic Gustav Klimt Used for: biography.
- [8] academic Gustav Klimt Used for: biography.
- [9] wikidata Wikidata: Q34661 Used for: identifiers.
- [10] wikipedia Wikipedia: Gustav Klimt Used for: biography, birth dates, death dates, identifiers, movement attribution, nationality.
- [11] book Susie Hodge, Art Used for: biography.
- [12] book Susie Hodge, Art: Everything You Need to Know About the Greatest Artists and Their Work Used for: biography.
- [13] book Gustav Klimt, Federico Zeri, Marco Dolcetta, Klimt, Gustav, Klimt_ Judith I (One Hundred Paintings Series)_1 Used for: biography.
- [14] museum Gustav Klimt Used for: museum holdings.
- [15] museum Gustav Klimt. Hope, II. 1907-08 Used for: notable works.
- [16] museum Gustav Klimt, Mäda Primavesi (1903–2000) Used for: museum holdings.
Editorial overseen by Solis Prints. Sources verified 2026-05-31. Click a source for details, or hover over [N] in the page above to preview.
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