Character Catalog

Mural decoration for the imperial theater, which earned him official recognition and the Golden Cross of Franz Joseph. These academic frescoes contrast sharply with his future style.

An immense 34-meter frieze adorning the Secession pavilion during an exhibition dedicated to Beethoven. It illustrates the Ode to Joy and embodies the ideal of total art (Gesamtkunstwerk).

Three panels commissioned by the University of Vienna, rejected for obscenity and reclaimed by Klimt. Burned by the Nazis in 1945, they are known only through photographs.

Portrait of a femme fatale in gold and black, depicting Judith holding the head of Holofernes. The first major work of the golden period, it symbolizes the emancipated and dangerous woman.

Klimt's absolute masterpiece, combining gold leaf, geometric and floral motifs in a representation of universal love. Purchased immediately by the Austrian state, it is one of the most reproduced paintings in the world.

Portrait of a wealthy Viennese Jewish patron, entirely covered in gold leaf. Confiscated by the Nazis, restituted to the family in 2006, it is now in New York — its story inspired the film Woman in Gold.

A swirling composition depicting women at different stages of life, typical of his late period in which geometric ornaments give way to more fluid and psychological forms.

I am not an official artist. I refuse to carry out commissions that force me to betray my vision. Give me back my paintings.

Our association recognizes no distinction between 'high' art and 'decorative' art. We want Vienna to reclaim its place among the great artistic capitals of Europe.

To every age its art, to art its freedom. We invite artists of all disciplines to reject the artificial boundaries between the arts.

Gustav would spend hours watching women in his studio, letting them move freely before beginning to sketch. He said that movement was the soul of the body.

Klimt's main studio from 1892, where he received numerous women as models and produced his major works. Klimt also kept a garden there with cats.

Inaugurated in 1898, this iconic landmark of Viennese modernism — nicknamed the 'golden cabbage' — hosted the Secession exhibitions and today houses the Beethoven Frieze.

Klimt spent every summer on the shores of this lake with Emilie Flöge and her family. He painted the majority of his landscapes there, seeking calm away from the bustle of Vienna.

This imperial museum holds the largest collection of Klimt's works in the world, including The Kiss and Judith I. It is the essential destination for discovering his work.

Klimt contributed to the decoration of the spandrels of this imperial museum (1890–1891), an official commission that earned him the Golden Cross and launched his career.

Klimt used genuine gold leaf (24-carat gold) to enhance his canvases, a technique inherited from Byzantine mosaic art. This precious material gives his works their characteristic luminosity.

Klimt himself made long blue robes with no collar or buttons to paint in. This garment, inspired by Japanese clothing, symbolized his rejection of bourgeois conventions.

He filled dozens of sketchbooks with line drawings, particularly of female nudes. He is credited with more than 4,000 drawings, which bear witness to his meticulous observation of the human body.

For his geometric ornaments and spiral motifs, Klimt used very fine brushes, similar to those of the Japanese calligraphers he admired.

The journal of the Vienna Secession, to which Klimt contributed regularly, was itself an art object — square format, refined typography, original illustrations — a symbol of the Gesamtkunstwerk project.

Klimt collected photographs of women and Japanese woodblock prints (ukiyo-e), which he drew upon to compose his poses and decorative motifs.