Gustav Klimt was born in a suburb of Vienna, Austria on July 14, 1862, the son of a gold and silver engraver. He was educated at the Vienna School of Decorative Arts. With his brothers he opened a studio in 1882, producing murals for public and private buildings. By 1897, Klimt had developed a style called Art Nouveau that was leading a revolution in the art world, breaking from the traditional ac
...see more »ademic style. He founded an organization with a group of like-minded artists called the Vienna Secession.
Klimt's technique favored ornamental gold and silver colors in his paintings, and displayed nudity with subtle hints of eroticism that scandalized the public at the time. His most famous painting, The Kiss (Der Kuss), showed the influence of Byzantine art in the heavy emphasis of gold paint. He was both criticized and admired for his boldness. He created fewer paintings than he did posters and murals. Vienna University commissioned him to do several murals in which he used several mediums: glass, metal and ceramics. His work also included illustrations for magazines. The emperor of Austria, Franz Joseph II, disliked Klimt's art and did not like to even be driven by a building in which his art was displayed.
In 1905 Klimt left the Vienna Secession group after quarreling with members and began designing jewelry and fashions. He felt strongly that art should not be confined to canvases and studios but should be allowed to flourish in other ways, similar to the Pop Art movement ideas of the sixties and seventies.
Klimt died February 6, 1918. Today, his paintings, whether it oils, watercolors or drawings, are much sought after, and the prices have risen dramatically - collectors usually pay $15,000-$30,000 for a good quality drawing or watercolor piece. Graphics from the Secessionist artists are rare and very costly. His work can be found in museums, galleries, private collections and reprints are available from retailers worldwide. In November 2006, auction prices at Christie's for four of Klimt's rarely-found paintings totaled over $192 million.
Partial list of art work:
1883 Fable (Historisches Museum der Stadt, Vienna)
1884 Idyll (Historisches Museum der Stadt, Vienna)
1888 Auditorium in the Old Burgtheater, Vienna (Historisches Museum der Stadt, Vienna)
1894 Portrait of a Lady (Historisches Museum der Stadt, Vienna)
1898 Portrait of Sonja Knips (Österreichische Galerie, Vienna)
1901 Judith I (Österreichische Galerie, Vienna)
1903 Emilie Flöge (Historisches Museum der Stadt, Vienna)
1905 Roses Under the Trees (Musée d'Orsay, Paris)
1906 Frau Fritza Riedler (Österreichische Galerie, Vienna)
1907 Frau Adele Bloch-Bauer (Österreichische Galerie, Vienna)
1908 The Kiss (Der Kuss, Il Bacio) (Österreichische Galerie, Vienna)
1909 Schloss Kammer am Attersee II (Private Collection)
1910 The Park (Museum of Modern Art, New York City)« see less
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