Gustav Klimt – So much more than a kiss

Visitors to Vienna are often overawed by the number of museums, operas, shows, and exhibitions that the city has to offer. The architecture and the wonderful open parks often take your breath away. Walking through the city there is art to be found on every corner.  One item takes centre stage and can be found on posters, fridge magnets, place mats and even dinner sets. Gustav Klimt’s ‘The Kiss’ seems to be the main theme for a city of culture.

Klimt, born on 14 July 1862 in Baumgarten near Vienna, was the second of seven children whose father Ernst was a gold engraver. As an exceptionally talented child he studied architectural painting at the University of Applied Arts (Kunstgewerbeschule) in Vienna from 1876 -1883, and started his career painting murals and ceilings for large public buildings.

In 1888 Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria, awarded him the Golden Order of Merit for his work in the Burgtheater and in the same year, he also became an honorary member of both Munich and Vienna universities.

At the end of the 1890s Klimt moved towards incorporating more nudes into his work. As it is believed that he was no longer interested in the ongoing political and social problems at that time. He met Emilie Louise Flöge, a fashion designer, who would be his companion for the rest of his life. His famous painting, The Kiss (1907–08), is thought to be an image of them as lovers. Flöge also helped to make and model the costumes that Klimt designed for his creative artwork.

Klimt was one of the founding members and president of the Wiener Secession in 1897 whose goals were to help upcoming artists by holding exhibitions and releasing periodicals. The group had no manifesto and encouraged all types of art to be submitted. Supported by the government, they were given a lease to erect a building on public land for an exhibition hall.

In 1894, Klimt was asked to create three paintings to decorate the ceiling of the Great Hall of the University of Vienna. When he had finished, his three paintings, Philosophy, Medicine, and Jurisprudence were highly criticized and described as pornographic. The paintings were not put on display and it was to be the last public commission to be accepted by the artist.

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.

Klimt’s ‘Golden Phase’ was marked by positive critical reaction and financial success. Possibly inspired by his trips to Venice where he admired the beautiful golden mosaics. Many of his paintings from this period included gold leaf. Klimt had previously used gold in his Pallas Athene (1898) and Judith I (1901), although the works most popularly associated with this period are the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907) and The Kiss (1907–08).

Klimt’s exhibitions abroad highlighted his importance in the art world at the time. He exhibited in Prague and Dresden in 1908, in Munich in 1909 and at the IX Biennale in Venice in 1910, where his works were enthusiastically received. In 1911 he exhibited in Rome, travelling to both Rome and Florence for the occasion, in 1912 again in Dresden, and in 1913 in Budapest, Munich and Mannheim. In 1914, he travelled to Rome again with the Association of Austrian Artists and in 1916 his work was shown with Schiele and Kokoschka at the Association’s exhibition in Berlin.

From 1900 to 1916, Gustav Klimt spent most of his summer holidays at Lake Attersee in Upper Austria, mainly visiting the villa of master carpenter Friedrich Paulick. Most of his landscape paintings were created here.

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 purely to his art and family.

The artist was very close with some of his clients, who were primarily from the assimilated Jewish Viennese Haute bourgeoisie. He cultivated intimate relationships especially with his models from upper class circles and was considered progressive for his time, because he allowed women an active role in sexuality. Although very active sexually, he kept his affairs discreet and he avoided personal scandal. It is believed that he was the father to 14 children.

Gustav Klimt was admitted to hospital after having a stroke in his flat on 11 January 1918. He died on 6 February 1918 at the age of 55 in the General Hospital, Vienna, after contracting flu-like pneumonia.