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Gustav Klimt

July 13, 2012

He was known for being scandalous, but also for staying true to his passions - both on canvas and in his romantic affairs. Artist Gustav Klimt was born 150 years ago in a Vienna that was a bit too conservative for him.

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His most famous painting, "The Kiss," has been reproduced in every way thinkable - on coffee cups, glasses cases, shopping bags and dozens of other everyday items. They all pay homage to Gustav Klimt, who has become the figurehead of Art Nouveau style.

Nevertheless, he wanted to improve the art of his time, said Alfred Weidinger, art historian, Klimt specialist, and curator of the Schlossmuseum Belvedere in Vienna.

Gustav Klimt was born to a poor family on July 14, 1862. A scholarship made it possible for him to study at the Vienna School of Applied Arts, together with his brother, Ernst Klimt. He worked hard and excelled quickly. As well as receiving commissions to paint ceiling frescos and theater decorations, he became the portrait painter of the Jewish upper class.

He not only painted, but also worked together with architects to build artistic houses as Gesamtkunstwerke. In 1894, Klimt was commissioned to paint three monumental frescos at Vienna University. The allegorical images he used - meant to represent jurisprudence, philosophy and medicine - caused a scandal.

Klimt's three Vienna University murals (from left to right) jurisprudence, medicine, philosophy
Klimt's three university murals caused a stir: (from left to right) jurisprudence, medicine, philosophy

Too intimate for Vienna 

Klimt showed too much naked skin for prude Vienna, said Weidinger. "He showed the Viennese what they looked like, and that was the problem."

Weidinger explained that Klimt didn't represent his unclothed subjects as divine figures, but as the next-door neighbor. "And so he displayed them in their beauty, but also in their ugliness." And that on the ceilings of the conservative university.

A scandal, however, was not Klimt's intention. "Klimt was very authentic. He just wanted to paint what he enjoyed," said Weidinger. The artist continued to do just that, even when he fell into financial difficulties.

With the help of his patrons, Klimt later bought back the three university paintings, which cost him a fortune. The originals were kept in Immendorf Castle in Lower Austria, but were destroyed when the Nazis set the castle in flames at the end of World War II.

World's priciest painting

In 1907, Klimt painted what would become one of his most famous works - the portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, the daughter of a Viennese banker, with strikingly realistic facial features and a hefty portion of gold. It became the most expensive artwork in the world when it sold to an American businessman for $135 million in 2006.

Alfred Weidinger
Alfred Weidinger says Klimt lived his passionsImage: Franz Gruber, Kurier

That Klimt's excessive use of gold was often criticized as kitschy didn't bother the artist, according to Weidinger. "Klimt was an academic painter," he explained. "Klimt's work didn't have anything to do with classical painting. He used the variety of materials that he had worked with during his schooling. It was painted applied arts."

Klimt's use of creative materials make his artworks unique. He had found a niche that was free of competition from other artists. The drawback was, however, that his ornamental style and authentic character made it impossible for him to become a professor of art.

"Klimt was a decorative artist," said Weidinger with intentional exaggeration, adding that the way he used his materials evoked awe in those who viewed his works - something Klimt carefully observed.

"Adele Bloch-Bauer " by Gustav Klimt, 1907
The portrait of the banker's daughter fetched a record sum a century after it was paintedImage: picture-alliance/dpa

Vienna's Don Juan

Gustav Klimt's relationship with women is enough to fill an entire chapter in the art history books - and not only because he enjoyed painting them. No one knows how many children Klimt actually fathered, though 14 people laid claim to his estate after his death. Four of them were officially registered as his children.

The painter never married. He lived his passion, authentically and without holding back, said Weidinger. "Otherwise it can't be explained that in May 1899 he had an affair with his sister-in-law Helene Klimt while starting a relationship with Alma Mahler-Werfel at the same time. Marie Ucicky and Marie Zimmermann were pregnant with his children at the same time - and he ran to Emilie Flöge."

That polygamy is accompanied by stress is apparent from the numerous troubled love letters Klimt received. He was simply an attractive man, commented Weidinger. Klimt died of a stroke on February 6, 1918 in Vienna. He was 55.

Author: Günther Birkenstock / kjb
Editor: Helen Whittle