Gustav Klimt as raised in a family of modest means – his father, an immigrant from Bohemia, worked as an artisan engraver. In his late teens, Klimt followed in his father’s footsteps by signing up on a course at the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts.
Whilst still at the school, Gustav and his brother Ernst Klimt took on a number of commercial interior decoration projects, including the creation of some sizeable murals in public offices.
Sadly, in 1892, both Klimt’s brother, and his father died. Klimt turned away from commercial work and concentrated on painting on canvas. His art was an amazing mix of the decorative flair he’d gained, combined with intense love for the female form.
Klimt’s personal life was as sexually energised as his paintings – he had a permanent partner in Emile Floge, but dallied with many women, siring over a dozen children.
In 1897, Klimt, tired of the restrictive conventions of the art world, joined with a few fellow artists to form the Vienna Sezession movement. The most famous exhibition mounted by the group was the 1902 homage to Ludwig van Beethoven – Klimt’s mural for the exhibition, the Beethoven Frieze formed a centerpiece. The mural was not intended to last, but still exists (though in a poor condition).
The late 1890s saw Klimt producing his most famous works in his so-called ‘Gold Period’. He utilized a series of mixed media techniques, incorporating gold-leaf and silver foil into his canvases, producing dazzylingly bright and decorative works. Masterpieces include Judith I, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, and The Kiss.
Late in his life, Klimt went back to painting in simple oil paints. He died in 1918 in Vienna, from a stroke.
The world had lost a great artist, or in one phrase – Gustav Klimt Life of the Supreme Decorator.
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