Klimt

Austrian painter Gustav Klimt (1862 –1918) was the most prominent member of the Vienna Secession movement. He is best known for his paintings, murals, and other objects d’art, which often incorporate gold leaf and feature the female body as main subject. At an early stage of his artistic career, he painted architectural decorations in a traditional style. When later cultivating a more personal style through the influence of Japanese prints, he was criticized for the use of eroticism, which was perceived as being pornographic.

Klimt did not accept any further public commissions but proved himself highly successful with his Golden Phase symbolist paintings. In his art-work, he incorporated lavishly painted figures with allusions to sexuality and the human psyche, often carrying messages of sexual liberation, pleasure, and mental burden. Some of his murals featuring voluptuous nudes scandalised the Viennese elite. However, to many artists, including fellow Austrian artist Egon Schiele, he was an important mentor.