Gustav Klimt was born in Austria in 1862. In his early career he received a public commission to paint a series of frescoes. He received the “Gold Cross for Artistic Merit” for his Burgtheater murals. However it is to the Viennese Secession that Klimt’s name will most enduringly be linked. This revolutionary movement separated itself definitively from public, academic art. The artistic chaos which reigned in Vienna at the time made it an extraordinary place to live. The atmosphere of Klimt’s Nuda Veritas could be likened to the slow languor of Strauss’ operas or to the theatre productions of Schnitzler. His paintings and the few of his drawings which were not destroyed by fire demonstrate a sensuality of rare delicacy. For Klimt “All art is erotic”, whether expressed through the extravagant Byzantine deco-ration of his Judith I, or through pure nudity. This book brings together Klimt’s finest paintings, along with a text that demonstrates the extraordinary eclecticism of this great artist.
