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***January 2004*** |
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Gustav Klimt July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918 |
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| Gustav Klimt was not only one of the most innovative artists of the early twentieth century, he was one of the most controversial. He was born in Baumgarten near Vienna, the second of seven children born to a poor but hard working engraver. When he was barely fourteen years old, Klimt became a student at the School of Applied Art in Vienna where he studied under Professor Ferdinand Laufberger for seven years. His teacher was so impressed with Gustav’s work he procured design commissions for him, which he worked on with the help of his younger brother Ernst. After gaining tremendous recognition for his technical talents, Gustav Klimt began establishing himself as a successful portrait artist. |
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He soon became inspired by the Impressionist, Symbolist, and Art Nouveau movements. As his style grew increasingly experimental, his State-commissioned murals for the Vienna University were attacked by critics for their bold, decorative and fantasy imagery. In 1897, partly in response to this reaction, Klimt formed the ‘Secession,' a group of artists dedicated to challenging the conservative Academy of Fine Arts. In 1900 his painting ‘Philosophy’ was unanimously rejected at the Secession Exhibition by 87 professors. However, it received a gold medal at the World Exhibition in Paris. He left the Secession in 1905, and bought back a painting he did for the University. |
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Klimt gets to know the young painter Egon Schiele in 1907, and the two become friends. He then travels to Paris in 1909 where he discovers the work of Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh, Munch, Gauguin, Picasso, Matisse and the Fauves. By 1911 his work starts to receive awards outside his home country and he travels to Rome, Brussels, London and Madrid. |
Klimt continues to paint feverishly, working every day from morning to night until his work takes a turn after the death of his mother in 1915. His palette becomes darker and his landscapes become more monochromatic. He becomes more isolated, even though he is elected honorary member of the Academies of Art in both Vienna and Munich in 1917. |
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In 1918, while still working on several paintings, Klimt has a stroke and shortly thereafter succumbs to an influenza outbreak. He dies in his studio, leaving behind a remarkable legacy that still remains today. |
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