Editing Gustav Klimt (section)

==Biography==

===Early life===

Gustav Klimt was born in [[Baumgarten, Vienna|Baumgarten]], near [[Vienna]] in the [[Austrian Empire]] on 14 July 1862. He was the second of seven children: three boys and four girls. His mother, Anna Klimt (''née'' Finster), had an unrealized ambition to be a musical performer. His father, Ernst Klimt the Elder, was a gold [[engraver]] formerly from a peasant family in [[Bohemia]].{{Sfn|Fliedl|1994|p=29}}{{Sfn | Sabarsky | 1983 | p = 7}} All three of their sons, including Klimt's younger brothers [[Ernst Klimt|Ernst]] and {{Interlanguage link|Georg Klimt|lt=Georg|de}}, displayed artistic talent early on. Klimt's siblings occasionally acted as models for his early works.{{Sfn|Bäumer|1986|p=23}}

Klimt's father often struggled to find work and Klimt lived in [[poverty]] while growing up. Between 1862 and 1884 the family had no fewer than 5 different addresses, forced to move in search of cheaper accommodation. The family's struggles worsened in 1874 when five-year-old Anna died after a long illness. Around the same time, Klara, the eldest child, became [[mentally disturbed]] and obsessed with religion. She never recovered, and their mother is believed to have suffered frequent, deep [[Depression (mood)|depression]]s.{{Sfn|Whitford|1990|pp=24–25}}

Klimt received a basic education at an ordinary ''Bürgerschule'', where his drawing ability was recognised as remarkable.{{Sfn|Whitford|1990|p=25}} At the age of fourteen, he was accepted into the Vienna [[Kunstgewerbeschule]], a school of [[Applied arts|applied arts and crafts]], now the [[University of Applied Arts Vienna]], where he studied [[architectural painting]] from 1876 until 1883.{{Sfn|Sabarsky|1983|p=7}}{{Sfn|Bailey|Colins|p=55}} He studied under [[Ferdinand Laufberger]] and later [[Julius Victor Berger]] after Laufberger's death in 1881. Klimt revered Vienna's foremost history painter of the time, [[Hans Makart]], and aspired to replicate his success.{{Sfn|Whitford|1990|pp=31–37}} Klimt readily accepted the principles of conservative training; his early work may be classified as academic.{{Sfn | Sabarsky | 1983 | p = 7}} Klimt began his professional career with minor commissions, painting interior murals and ceilings in large public buildings on the [[Ringstrasse]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2025|reason=No doubt this is true but a firm mention would be nice instead of  "a number of minor projects" (Whitford 1990)}} 

=== The "Company of Artists" ===
[[File:Gustav Klimt in 1887.jpg|thumb|Gustav Klimt in 1887|329x329px]]
In 1877, Klimt's brother Ernst, who would become an engraver like their father, also enrolled in the Kunstgewerbeschule. Klimt, Ernst, and their friend [[Franz von Matsch]], whom Klimt had met during the entrance examination, soon began working together. By 1880, they had formed a team called the ''Künstlercompagnie'', the "Company of Artists", and secured numerous commissions. They also helped their teacher in painting murals in the [[Kunsthistorisches Museum]] in Vienna.{{Sfn | Sabarsky | 1983 | p = 7}} Laufberger recommended them to [[Fellner & Helmer|Fellner & Hellmer]], a Viennese firm specialising in theatre construction, with whom they were involved in many projects including in [[Fiume]], [[Liberec|Reichenberg]], [[Karlsbad (Boehmen)|Karlsbad]] and [[Bucharest]].{{Sfn|Fliedl|1994|p=35}}{{Sfn|Whitford|1990|p=39}}

After leaving the Kunstgewerbeschule in 1883, Ernst, Klimt, and Matsch move into a joint studio in Vienna to work together on various joint commissions. This work includes ancestral portraits based on engravings for the Romanian royal palace of [[Peleș Castle]].{{Sfn|Bäumer|1986|p=23}} In 1886 the studio partnership works on painting decoration in the Karlsbad municipal theatre, notably painting the vaulted ceiling and theatre curtain.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2013-02-02 |title=Town Theatre |url=https://www.karlovyvary.cz/en/town-theatre |access-date=2025-05-03 |website=Karlovy Vary |language=en}}</ref>{{Sfn|Bäumer|1986|p=24}} The same year they also start work on the ceiling and [[spandrel]] murals for the two staircases of the [[Burgtheater]] in Vienna. It is for Klimt's contributions to these murals that upon their completion in 1888, Emperor [[Franz Joseph I of Austria]] awards him the [[Cross of Merit (Austria-Hungary)|Gold Cross of Merit]], the highest artistic honour available in Austria.{{Sfn|Sabarsky|1983|p=7}}{{Sfn|Bäumer|1986|p=24}} The Viennese City Council also commissioned Klimt to paint a view of the interior of the old theatre before its demolition. His painting, ''Audience at the Old Burgtheater'', helped him obtain recognition among Vienna's high society and public acclaim. In 1890, Klimt became the first recipient of the newly created {{Interlanguage link|Kaiserpreis (art)|lt=Kaiserpreis|de|Kaiserpreis (Kunst)}} award for this work.{{Sfn|Fliedl|1994|pp=37–39}}<ref>{{Cite web |date=1890-04-27 |title=ANNO, Die Presse, 1890-04-27, Seite 13 |url=https://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?apm=0&aid=apr&datum=18900427&seite=13&query=%22Gustav+Klimt%22 |access-date=2025-05-13 |website=anno.onb.ac.at |language=de}}</ref> Klimt also became an honorary member of the [[University of Munich]] and the [[University of Vienna]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

In 1892 the ''Künstlercompagnie'' experienced continued success and moved into a larger studio in the [[Josefstadt|Josefstadt district]]. However later that year Klimt's father died of a [[stroke]],{{Sfn|Bäumer|1986|p=24}} and his brother Ernst died from [[pericarditis]] after a heavy cold. Their deaths had a significant impact on Klimt and he now assumed financial responsibility for both of their families. Grief may have impacted Klimt's artistic vision as he produced little work during the following few years.{{Sfn|Whitford|1990|pp=45–46}} He would soon move towards a new personal style. Characteristic of his style at the end of the 19th century is the inclusion of [[Veritas|Nuda Veritas]] ("''naked truth"'') as a symbolic figure in some of his works, including ''Ancient Greece and Egypt'' (1891), ''[[Pallas Athene]]'' (1898) and ''Nuda Veritas'' (1899).<ref>{{Cite web |first=Werner | last=Rosenberger |date=12 May 2012 |title=Gegen Klimt: &quot;Vielen gefallen ist schlimm&quot; |url=https://kurier.at/kultur/gegen-klimt-vielen-gefallen-ist-schlimm/787.186/%5Bnode:path%5D |access-date=27 January 2023 |website=Kurier |language=de}}{{dead link|date=August 2023|fix-attempted=yes}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Nuda Veritas Jetzt neu präsentiert! |url=https://www.theatermuseum.at/vor-dem-vorhang/ausstellungen/nuda-veritas/ |access-date=27 January 2023 |website=Theatermuseum|language=de}}</ref> Historians believe that with the ''nuda veritas'' Klimt was denouncing both the policy of the [[Habsburg monarchy|Habsburgs]] and Austrian society, which ignored all political and social problems of that time.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Jane |last1=Rogoyska |author-link1=Jane Rogoyska |first2=Patrick |last2=Bade |title=Gustav Klimt |publisher=Parkstone Press International |url=https://lccn.loc.gov/2011024520 |page=30 |date=2011 |isbn=978-1-84484-904-8 |lccn=2011024520 |access-date=9 May 2021}}</ref> In the early 1890s, Klimt met Austrian [[fashion designer]] [[Emilie Louise Flöge]], a sibling of his sister-in-law, who was to be his companion until the end of his life. His painting, [[The Kiss (Klimt)|''The Kiss'']] (1907–08), is thought to be an image of them as lovers which was painted five years after Klimt's 1902 full-length portrait of her. He designed many costumes that she produced and modelled in his works.

During this period{{Which|date=May 2025}}, Klimt fathered at least fourteen children.{{Sfn|Bailey|Colins|p=99}}

===Vienna Secession years===
[[File:Gustav Klimt 014.jpg|thumb|A section of the ''[[Beethoven Frieze]]'', at [[Secession hall (Austria)|Secession Building]], [[Vienna]] (1902)|273x273px]]In 1894, Klimt was commissioned to create three paintings, known as the ''[[Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings|Faculty Paintings]],'' to decorate the ceiling of the Great Hall of 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 material, and were called "[[pornography|pornographic]]".{{Sfn | Sabarsky | 1983 | p = 9}} Klimt had transformed traditional [[allegory]] and symbolism into a new language that was more overtly sexual and hence more disturbing to some.{{Sfn | Sabarsky | 1983 | p = 9}} The public outcry came from all quarters—political, aesthetic and religious. As a result, the paintings were not displayed on the ceiling of the Great Hall.<ref>On 11 November 1905, the artistic commission of the ministry of education examined the projects for the panels of the University' Great Hall. The Klimt's ones were welcomed, unlike Matsch's. However, it was proposed not to exhibit them in the Great Hall, but in the [[Österreichische Galerie Belvedere|Österreichische Galerie]]. Klimt rejected the proposal and on 3 April 1905 he wrote to the aforementioned ministry renouncing the assignment, and asking for the return of the sketches, declaring himself willing to return the sum of money that had been advanced to him. In: {{Cite book |last=Dobai |first=Johannes |title=The Complete Works of Klimt |date=1978 |publisher=Rizzoli |location=Milan |page=86 |language=it}}</ref> This was to be the last public commission accepted by the artist. All three paintings were destroyed when retreating German forces burned [[Schloss Immendorf]] in May 1945,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Rogoyska |first1=Jane |last2=Bade |first2=Patrick |title=Gustav Klimt |date=2011 |publisher=Parkstone Press International |location=New York |isbn=978-1-78042-729-4 |page=87 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F3b0asmVCtAC&q=Philosophy%2C%20Medicine%2C%20and%20Jurisprudence%20klimt%20ss&pg=PA87 |chapter=Compositional Project for Medicine}}</ref><ref name="SchlossImmendorf">{{cite web | last=Jones | first=Jonathan | title=Jonathan Jones: Klimt's dazzling demons | website=the Guardian | date=2008-05-07 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/may/07/art | access-date=2025-03-27}}</ref> together with another ten paintings, including ''[[Schubert at the Piano]]'', ''Girlfriends'' (or ''Two Women Friends''), ''Wally'' (portrait), ''The Music (II)''.<ref name="Johannes1">Johannes Dobai ''The Complete Works of Klimt'', Rizzoli 1978. pp. 94–110.</ref><ref>According to Storkovich, in reality the alleged burned paintings were ten, not thirteen, as ''Prozession der Toten'' (Procession of the dead, 1903), ''[[Malcesine]] am Gardasee'' (1913) and ''[[Bad Gastein|Gastein]]'' (1917), never came to Immendorf. Furthermore, she believes there is no convincing evidence that Klimt's three university ceiling paintings were actually destroyed. {{Cite web |title=Verbrannte Klimtbilder: Das Puzzle von Immendorf Storkovich |trans-title=The Burned Klimt Paintings: The Puzzle about Immendorf |last=Storkovich |first=Tina Marie |url=http://diepresse.com/home/spectrum/zeichenderzeit/4890667/Verbrannte-Klimtbilder_Das-Puzzle-von-Immendorf |website=Die Presse |date=18 December 2015 |access-date=4 July 2023 |language=de}}</ref>

Klimt became one of the founding members and president of the ''[[Vienna Secession|Wiener Secession]]'' in 1897 and of the group's periodical, ''[[Ver Sacrum (magazine)|Ver Sacrum]]'' ("Sacred Spring"). He remained with the ''Secession'' until 1908. The goals of the group were to provide exhibitions for unconventional young artists, to bring the works of the best foreign artists to Vienna, and to publish its own magazine to showcase the work of members.{{Sfn|Whitford|1990|p=69}} The group declared no [[manifesto]] and did not set out to encourage any particular style—[[Naturalist school of painting|Naturalists]], [[Realism (arts)|Realists]], and [[Symbolist painting|Symbolists]] all coexisted. The government supported their efforts and gave them a lease on public land to erect an [[Secession Building|exhibition hall]]. The group's symbol was [[Pallas Athena]], the [[Greek mythology|Greek]] goddess of just causes, wisdom, and the arts—of whom Klimt painted his radical version in 1898.<ref name="PallasAthene">{{cite web | title=Pallas Athene, 1898 by Gustav Klimt | website=Gustav Klimt | url=https://www.gustav-klimt.com/Pallas-Athene.jsp | access-date=2025-03-27}}</ref>

His ''Nuda Veritas'' (1899) defined his bid to further "shake up" the establishment.<ref name="Klimt Nuda Veritas 1899">{{cite web |url=http://www.klimt.com/en/gallery/early-works/klimt-nuda-veritas-1899.ihtml |series=Gustav Klimt Painting |title= Early Works / Nuda Veritas 1899 |work= Klimt Gallery |publisher= Klimt Museum |access-date=5 July 2013}}</ref> The starkly naked red-headed woman holds the mirror of truth, while above her is a quotation by [[Friedrich Schiller]] in stylized lettering: "If you cannot please everyone with your deeds and your art, please only a few. To please many is bad."{{Sfn | Whitford | 1990 | p = 52}} In 1902, animated by resentment Klimt wanted to title the painting ''Gold Fish'' (in which a naked woman ostentatiously and maliciously shows her butt), "To my critics", but was dissuaded by friends.<ref name="Johannes1" />

In 1902, Klimt finished the ''[[Beethoven Frieze]]'' for the Fourteenth Vienna Secessionist Exhibition, which was intended to be a celebration of the composer and featured a monumental [[polychrome]] sculpture by [[Max Klinger]]. Intended for the exhibition only, the frieze was painted directly on the walls with light materials. After the exhibition the painting was preserved, although it was not displayed again until restored in 1986. The face on the Beethoven portrait resembled the composer and [[Vienna State Opera|Vienna Court Opera]] director [[Gustav Mahler]].<ref>Johnson, Julian, ''Mahler's Voices: Expression and Irony in the Songs and Symphonies''. Oxford University Press (Oxford, UK), {{ISBN|978-0-19-537239-7}}, p. 235 (2009).</ref>

In 1905, dissensions within the ''Secession'' increased, and when the artistic consultant of the [[Galerie Miethke|Galerie Mietkhe]] [[Carl Moll]] was attacked by colleagues of the ''Secession'' for his work, a strong controversy arose which created a real internal split, led by Klimt. The following year, Klimt formed the group called "[[Kunstschau Wien 1908|Kunstschau]]" (Art Show) or "Klimt group", which also included Moll and [[Otto Wagner]], among other important Austrian artists.<ref>Johannes Dobai ''The Complete Works of Klimt'', Rizzoli 1978. p. 86.</ref>

During this period Klimt did not confine himself to public commissions. Beginning in the late 1890s he took annual summer holidays with the Flöge family on the shores of [[Attersee (lake)|Attersee]] and painted many of his landscapes there, such as ''[[Schloss by the Water]]''. These landscapes constitute the only genre aside from [[figure painting]] that seriously interested Klimt. In recognition of his intensity, the locals called him ''Waldschrat'' ("forest demon").<ref>{{Citation |last=Koja |first=Stephan |others=et al |title=Gustav Klimt Landscapes |page=27 |publisher=Prestel |year=2002}}</ref>

Klimt's Attersee paintings are of sufficient number and quality 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 flattened so efficiently to a single plane that it is believed that Klimt painted them by using a telescope.<ref>{{Citation |first=Anselm |last=Wagner |chapter=Klimt's Landscapes and the Telescope |title=Gustav Klimt Landscapes |pages=161–71 |publisher=Prestel |year=2002}}</ref>

===Golden phase and critical success===
[[File:Gustav Klimt, 1907, Adele Bloch-Bauer I, Neue Galerie New York.jpg|thumb|''[[Adele Bloch-Bauer I]]'' , which sold for a record $135&nbsp;million in 2006, [[Neue Galerie New York|Neue Galerie]], New York (1907)|left|250x250px]]
[[File:The Kiss - Gustav Klimt - Google Cultural Institute.jpg|thumb|left|''[[The Kiss (Klimt painting)|The Kiss]]'', oil on canvas, [[Österreichische Galerie Belvedere]], [[Vienna]] (1907–1908)|251x251px]]
[[File:Egon Schiele - Gustav Klimt im blauen Malerkittel - 1913.jpeg|thumb|''Klimt in a light Blue Smock'' by [[Egon Schiele]], 1913|303x303px]]
From 1900 Gustav Klimt became famous above all as a "painter of women". He created about one large-format portrait of a woman per year, in which he applied the principles of Art Nouveau - flatness, decoration, and [[gold leaf]] application. At the same time, he devoted himself to allegories and [[Old Testament]] heroines, which he transformed, however, into dangerous "[[Femme fatale|femmes fatales]]". [[Eros]], sexuality and femininity were variously interpreted by him as alluring danger. Life, love, and death can be determined as the important themes of Klimt's work.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Gustav Klimt: Biografie. Lebenslauf und wichtige Werke des Wiener Jugendstilmalers |trans-title=G. Klimt: Biography. Résumé and important works of the Viennese Art Nouveau painter |url=https://artinwords.de/gustav-klimt-lebenslauf-biografie/ |website=artinwords.de |date=30 December 2017 |access-date=24 September 2023 |language=de}}</ref> During the early years of the Secessionist Movement, Klimt began incorporating [[gold leaf]] into his paintings, a development that would come to define the start of his so-called "Golden Phase". ''[[Pallas Athena (Klimt)|Pallas Athena]]'' (1898) is often considered to be the earliest piece from this period, with ''[[Judith I]]'' (1901) being another notable early example. The most iconic works of this period include ''[[Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I]]'' (1907), ''[[The Kiss (Klimt painting)|The Kiss]]'' (1907–08) and the ''[[Stoclet Frieze]]'' (1905–1911)''.''<ref>{{Cite web |last=Richman-Abdou |first=Kelly |date=2018-09-16 |title=The Splendid History of Gustav Klimt’s Glistening “Golden Phase” |url=https://mymodernmet.com/gustav-klimt-golden-phase/ |access-date=2025-05-27 |website=My Modern Met |language=en}}</ref> Klimt's golden phase was marked by positive critical reaction and financial success.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}}

Klimt travelled all over Europe, mainly to present his works on the occasion of international exhibitions, but trips to Venice and [[Ravenna]], both famous for their beautiful mosaics, most likely inspired his gold technique and his [[Byzantine art|Byzantine imagery]]. In 1904, he collaborated with other artists on the lavish [[Stoclet Palace]], the home of a wealthy Belgian industrialist that was one of the grandest monuments of the [[Art Nouveau]] age. Klimt's contributions to the dining room, including both ''Fulfillment'' and ''Expectation'', were some of his finest decorative works, and as he publicly stated, "probably the ultimate stage of my development of ornament."{{Sfn | Whitford | 1990 | p = 103}}

In 1905, Klimt painted ''[[The Three Ages of Woman (Klimt)|The Three Ages of Woman]]'', depicting the cycle of life. He created a painted [[Margaret Stonborough-Wittgenstein|portrait of Margarete Wittgenstein]], [[Ludwig Wittgenstein]]'s sister, on the occasion of her marriage.<ref>Edmunds, D. and Eidenow, J. ''Wittgenstein's Poker: The Story of a Ten-Minute Argument Between Two Great Philosophers,'' 2001, page 83.</ref> Then, between 1907 and 1909, Klimt painted five canvases of society women wrapped in fur. His apparent love of costume is expressed in the many photographs of Flöge modelling clothing he had designed.

As he worked and relaxed in his home, Klimt normally wore sandals and a long robe with no undergarments. His simple life was somewhat cloistered, devoted to his art, family, and little else except the Secessionist Movement from which he and many colleagues eventually resigned. He avoided [[Viennese coffee house|café society]] and seldom socialized with other artists. Klimt's fame usually brought patrons to his door and he could afford to be highly selective. His painting method was very deliberate and painstaking at times and he required lengthy sittings by his subjects. Although very active sexually, he kept his affairs discreet and he avoided personal scandal.

The artist cultivated close relationships with some of his clients, who were primarily from the assimilated [[History of the Jews in Vienna|Jewish Viennese]] [[Haute bourgeoisie]]. He cultivated intimate relationships, especially with his models from upper-class circles. He was considered progressive for his time, because he allowed women an active role in [[Human sexuality|sexuality]].<ref>{{Cite news |title= Der Meister des gemalten Wahnsinns |trans-title=The master of painted madness |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/feuilleton/buecher/biographie-gustav-klimts-zum-hundertsten-todestag-15434006.html |last=Rudolph |first=Katharina |date=6 February 2018 |work=[[Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung]] |access-date=24 September 2023 |language=de}}</ref>

Klimt wrote little about his vision or his methods. He wrote mostly postcards to Flöge and kept no diary. In a rare writing called "Commentary on a non-existent self-portrait", he states "I have never painted a self-portrait. I am less interested in myself as a subject for a painting than I am in other people, above all women... There is nothing special about me. I am a painter who paints day after day from morning to night&nbsp;... Whoever wants to know something about me&nbsp;... ought to look carefully at my pictures."{{Sfn | Whitford | 1990 | p = 18}}

In 1901 [[Hermann Bahr]] wrote, in his ''Speech on Klimt'': "Just as only a lover can reveal to a man what life means to him and develop its innermost significance, I feel the same about these paintings."<ref>{{Citation |first=Dr. Julia |last=Kelly |chapter=Introduction to Payne, L |year=2004 |title=Klimt |publisher=Exclusive Editions |isbn=1-84461-185-X}}</ref>

===Final years and death===

In 1911 his painting ''[[Death and Life]]'' received first prize in the [[International Exhibition of Art (1911)|world exhibitions]] in Rome.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} In 1915 Klimt's mother, Anna, died.{{Sfn|Fischer|McEwan|p=13}}

On 11 January 1918, Klimt suffered a stroke that paralysed his right side and required hospitalisation. He died in Vienna on 6 February from [[pneumonia]] brought about by the [[Spanish flu]], aged 55.<ref>{{Citation |first=Alessandra |last=Comini |title=Gustav Klimt |publisher=George Braziller |year=2001 |page=[https://archive.org/details/gustavklimt0000klim_p9e9/page/5 5] |isbn=0-8076-0806-8 |url=https://archive.org/details/gustavklimt0000klim_p9e9/page/5}}</ref>{{Sfn|Whitford|1990|p=204}} He was buried at the [[Hietzing Cemetery]] in [[Hietzing]], Vienna.{{Sfn|Bäumer|1986|p=28}} Numerous paintings by him were left [[unfinished creative work|unfinished]].{{Sfn|Fliedl|1994|p=233}}