Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt (Known as "Master of the Vienna Secession & Golden Phase (The Kiss)")

Austrian Symbolist Painter, Founding President of the Vienna Secession

Born 14 July 1862

Baumgarten (Vienna), Austria

Passed Away 6 February 1918 Vienna, Austria

Lifespan 55 years old

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Notice / Correction

"To every age its art, to art its freedom. Whoever wants to know something about me should look attentively at my pictures and there seek to recognise what I am and what I want."

Archival Overview

Austrian Symbolist master and founding president of the Vienna Secession, renowned for his dazzling 'Golden Phase'—above all The Kiss and the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I—blending erotic sensuality, Byzantine gold leaf, and decorative mosaic patterns.

Biographical Record

Gustav Klimt (1862–1918), son of a Bohemian gold engraver, rose to prominence painting classical murals for the Burgtheater and Kunsthistorisches Museum. In 1897, rebelling against academic conservatism, Klimt founded the Vienna Secession, serving as its first president under the motto: 'To every age its art, to art its freedom.'

Inspired by 6th-century Byzantine mosaics in Ravenna, Klimt entered his celebrated 'Golden Phase' (*Goldene Periode*). Incorporating delicate gold leaf, jewel-like geometric ornamentation, and sensual eroticism, he created The Kiss (*Der Kuss*, 1907–1908) and the shimmering Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I ('The Woman in Gold'), embodying the luxurious, decadent heights of fin-de-siècle Vienna.

Key Life Milestones

3 April 1897 CE

Founding of the Vienna Secession

Founded the Vienna Secession, breaking away from the conservative Künstlerhaus to champion modern avant-garde art.

1908 CE

Unveiling of The Kiss (Der Kuss)

Exhibited The Kiss at the Vienna Kunstschau, purchased immediately by the Austrian government as a national treasure.

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Final Resting Place

Perpetual Memorial

Hietzing Cemetery (Hietzinger Friedhof, Group 5)
Vienna, Austria

                         GPS: 48.1758, 16.2978                    

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