Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt was an Austrian painter and draftsman active in Vienna during the late Habsburg era. Trained at the Vienna School of Applied Arts, he began with academic decorative commissions for public buildings before turning to a more personal, ornamental style. In 1897 he became a founding president of the Vienna Secession, which sought exhibition space independent of the established academy. His mature work is marked by gold leaf, dense pattern, allegory, and the portrait and figure. Well-known paintings include The Kiss and portraits of Viennese sitters. He worked and exhibited internationally, summered at the Attersee, and died in Vienna in 1918.