“All art is erotic. »
Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), a leading artist of Viennese symbolism, is world-renowned for his precious compositions in which gold dominates. In the wake of Art Nouveau, his work is powerfully decorative. He was one of the founders of the secessionist movement, created with the aim of spreading Austrian art on the international scene. A deeply original personality, Klimt elicited contrasting reactions in his time because of the eroticism of his compositions where life and death intertwine.
In the spirit of Wagnerism, Klimt aims to create a total work of art, combining painting, architecture and music. Although criticized, his art reaches a huge audience in the world of modern art. He became a mentor to the painter Egon Schiele.
At the end of his career, Gustav Klimt moved away from the decorative to take an interest in the avant-garde, especially Fauvism. He broke with the Viennese Secession but obtained large commissions for bourgeois portraits that understed his fame.
He died in 1918, probably from a stroke. He leaves a prodigious and plethora of works, with important decorations and thousands of drawings.
