Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt's Life

• Gustav Klimt was a 19th-century Austrian painter and a prominent member of the Vienna Secession movement.
• He was born in 1862 in Baumgarten, near Vienna, into a lower-middle-class family.
• He was the second of seven children, with three boys and four girls, all of whom displayed artistic talent from an early age.
• His father, Ernst Klimt, worked as an engraver and goldsmith, earning very little due to scarce work opportunities.
• Klimt's childhood was spent in relative poverty, with the family living in cheap accommodation and frequently moving.

Career and Reputation

• Klimt was revered as the most famous Viennese painter of his time, achieving almost mythical status.
• He was famous for his paintings, murals, and sketches, many of which were erotic.
• As he grew older, Klimt increasingly retreated to the solitude of his studio, preferring to paint rather than socialize with others.

Personal Life

• Klimt lived with his mother and unmarried sisters in a simple, middle-class rented apartment until he died.
• He maintained a private life, preferring to focus on his art rather than mixing with others.