9781422285374

KLIMT

(Public Domain)

11

 ABOVE: Self-portrait of Hans Makart , a 19 th -century Austrian academic history painter, designer, and decorator.  LEFT:  The Vienna Secession exhibition’s main hall. A collective exhibition by Gustav Klimt, with interior design by Kolo Moser. Vienna, 1903.

Europe and Klimt’s works served to reflect the discoveries across all genres and mediums surrounding him at this time. Society was undergoing dramatic changes and Klimt’s fascination with, and depictions of, women reveal the emergence of a more liberal, confident, middle class. His total works reflect the evolution of artistic movements and he was greatly influenced by the likes of Hans Makart (the defining Viennese painter of the late 19 th century). Klimt’s most successful and financially profitable time came during his Golden Period, or Gold Phase, in the early 1900s with works such as The Kiss , possibly his most famous painting.