Gustav Klimt (1862–1918) — an artist from Austria, an innovator in painting, one of the founders of Art Nouveau. However, at first he painted in a completely traditional, academic manner, painted the Vienna Theater, for which he was awarded an award from the emperor. But later he got tired of painting in the old-fashioned academic style, so he and some other young painters began to resist the dominance of academicism, organized their own art association "Vienna Secession". Art critics mercilessly scolded young artists, but this did not bother Klimt himself at all, their opinion meant little to him. His canvases were always eagerly bought up by art lovers, providing a good income. Perhaps because Klimt often painted naked women, and he managed to do this without unnecessary vulgarity and vulgarity, in his paintings the ball was ruled by beauty, attractiveness and sensuality.
Judith and the Head of Holofernes. 1901
Since the 1890s, a “golden period” has been distinguished in his work, when Klimt used real gold leaf when painting, and the canvases of this period began to be recognized as the most valuable and famous works of this extraordinary artist.
The Kiss
He was also a lucky man, and his life turned out quite well, despite some character traits and a careless attitude towards his health. Klimt became famous very early - before the age of 20, he was always doing his favorite job and, having started to earn good money, he was able to choose themes for his paintings himself. He did not have to, like Ivan Kramskoy, paint a lot of portraits to the point of exhaustion in order to provide a decent living for his family. He also had many fans, women loved him and, like Francisco Goya, Klimt was never deprived of their attention. Young artists envied him, but at the same time admired his paintings, he was their idol, they wanted to imitate him, but few managed to paint like Klimt and develop their own innovative style in painting. Although Klimt himself would have been quite surprised if it suddenly turned out that his canvases are now so expensive, he could not expect to receive such fabulous money for them.
Hope II
In 1898, Austrian art lovers flocked to the Vienna Secession exhibition, which featured paintings by local modernists and impressionists from France: Edgar Degas, Auguste Renoir, Claude Monet and others.
The 14th Exhibition of the Vienna Secession. Gustav Klimt is second from the left in the top row on the throne. 1902. Photo by Moritz Nehr
«Could this really be the same Klimt who painted the theater and created proper academic portraits? Look where he ended up, he probably hit his head. Maybe he should be locked up in a proper medical facility, or even in prison?».
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I
However, new times also determined a new view of art, and there were more and more artists like this, creating in a modernist manner. Not all of them found recognition and understanding among art critics, especially Gustav Klimt. But he painted an even more provocative picture in response to all their comments. Thus, in 1901, he created a canvas that he called "To My Critics", which depicts a nude, red-haired, plump lady, turning her butt to all of Klimt's supposed opponents and looking over her shoulder with a playful, grinning expression.
Gold fish
There was a reason for conservative lovers of classicism to be indignant. Later, Klimt changed the name to "Goldfish".
He stopped taking government orders, and they were not interesting to him. But he began to paint with pleasure what he liked, and he liked mainly paintings with naked women. True, Klimt painted them in a modernist manner, although not without a solid share of sensuality, without slipping into vulgarity and banality, fortunately he had more than enough talent, a sense of style and measure. They were liked by the public and always found buyers, it was then that Klimt began to actively use gold leaf, and the paintings really did subsequently enter the "Golden Fund of Art".
He was also an excellent landscape painter, much like our Isaac Levitan or Vasily Polenov, but he created landscapes in the Art Nouveau style.
Schloss Kammer on the Attersee IV
They allowed him to escape from unnecessary fuss, and although they were quite figurative and painted closer to the classical manner, they still retained all the features of his own style. Klimt always preferred square canvases, so it was possible to show the space evenly in width and height, without distorting it. Towards the end of his life, he completely switched to landscapes, perhaps women simply no longer aroused such a burning desire.
And in his time he was a passionate lover of women. Once he pursued one aspiring artist across half of Europe, trying to achieve reciprocity. There were rumors that Klimt slept with almost every model and there is no reason not to believe them, and he had a lot of models. Moreover, many "respectable" noble ladies wanted to get a portrait of Klimt, fortunately he did not always take only money for his work. When all this was not enough for him, he actively used the services of prostitutes. He was not particularly picky in choosing his partners, but preferred red-haired plump ladies or slender brunettes.
Danae
He was also a very prolific father. They say he had 40 children from different women, maybe even more. He never married - family life would probably have seemed too dull to him, and his wife would have had to put up with his numerous infidelities. Frequent affairs with prostitutes eventually led to Klimt contracting syphilis, and this disease seriously undermined his health.
Death and Life. 1908-1916
But there were two women whom Klimt treasured very much and who truly loved him. The artist's mother, Anna Klimt, despite the fact that she had six more children besides Gustav, lived with him in the same house and took care of her unmarried son, making sure that he had a healthy, warm dinner and clean clothes. He took this for granted, however, he also loved his mother, and she was probably proud that he became such a famous artist.
The second was Emilie Flöge, the sister of his deceased brother's widow. The artist took care of his brother's widow, who was left with a small child, and that is why he became close to Emilie.
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II
Portrait of Emilie Flöge. 1902
Klimt and Emilie had a tender and friendly relationship, and they spent their summers together at Lake Attersee. Perhaps if there was an ideal candidate for Klimt's wife, it was Emilie, but she probably simply did not want to marry him, knowing Klimt's weakness for other women. He painted several portraits of her, the work of 1902 being especially notable.
Gustav and Emilia
They were friends for 27 years, and the artist’s last words were a request to see Emilia.
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