«I am not interested in myself as a subject to paint, but in others, especially women…» His paintings are beautiful, sensual and above all, erotic. In Supercurious we tell you some of the curiosities of the life and work of Gustav Klimt, which with his skill he has portrayed the world of feminine beauty above all else. Join us to find out who Gustav Klimt was!
10 Curiosities of Gustav Klimt
Before starting with our top 10 curiosities about Gustav Klimt, we want to tell you that he was an artist of Austrian origin who dabbled in the symbolist movement. He was born on July 14, 1862 in Baumgarten, near to the magical vienna. He was the second of seven children born to the Klimt family and one of the most controversial artists of the 20th century. He has been known worldwide for his success with portraits of womenhis use of color and drawing that give his works a flash of deep sensuality, in which the woman is -above all- the queen.
1. A constant love for oriental art
Historians agree in pointing out the eclectic nature of Gustav Klimt’s pictorial style. They have a theory that Klimt used oriental art as a reference for many of his works, and it is well known that this artist appreciated the art of ancient Egypt, the Mycenaean culture and especially the Japanese Ripna school. One of the most important schools of painting in Japan that arose in the 17th century. Its influence can be seen in the use of gold and its organic and defined lines. Gustav Klimt is not the only one who has been interested in oriental art, this is also one of Van Gogh’s curiosities.
2. The state scholarship
This artist achieved success with his first works, one of Gustav Klimt’s rarest curiosities. He came from a poor family, where he could more than support himself. At the age of fourteen, he obtained a state scholarship to study at one of the most prestigious schools in Vienna.the School of Arts.
3. The company of artists, the school that Klimt founded
His talent as a draftsman and painter was quickly recognized, and in 1879 he formed the Company of Artists with his brother Ernst and Franz Matsch. This movement made enough money to commission their own building! The architect Joseph Maria Olbrich was the one who designed it. On the entrance of the building the motto was read: “To each age its art, to art its freedom”.
4. Gustav Klimt and the gold medal
In the history of Gustav Klimt and his curiosities, we go back to 1894. Klimt and Matsch were commissioned to produce a series of paintings for the University of Vienna. The subjects assigned were philosophy, medicine and jurisprudence. His work was so popular that when it was exhibited at the Universal Exposition of 1900, his work on Philosophy won the gold medal.
Gustav Klimt’s personal life
Some of the most tempting curiosities of Gustav Klimt are his love affairs and friendships. We must warn you that Very little is known about Klimt’s personal life., a fact that is due to a large extent to his own reluctance in this regard. But here we tell you some of his best kept curiosities about his personal life.
5. A Don Juan
He is described as a Don Juan, of peasant build, strong as an ox, who he slept with countless women (including his models). Many of these women are portrayed in her works as long-haired, slender, agile, and possessing a sexual awareness that is both seductive and threatening.
Franz Servaes (a contemporary art critic) comments: “Here he was surrounded by mysterious nude female creatures who, while he stood silent in front of his easel, wandered around his studio, stretching, lounging, and enjoying the day, always ready for him to see.” the teacher would obediently command them to stay still whenever he saw a pose or movement that appealed to his sense of beauty and which he would then capture in a quick drawing.”
6. The love of Gustav Klimt
Klimt never married, but he had a long relationship with Emilie Flöge, the sister of his brother Ernest’s wife. In 1891 Ernst had married Helene Flöge, one of two sisters who ran a fashion house in Vienna. The marriage only lasted fifteen months, but through Helene, Gustav met Emilie. Beginning in 1897, he spent almost every summer on the Attersee with the Flöge family, periods of peace and quiet out of which emerged the landscapes that make up almost a quarter of his work.
7. The fire that wiped out much of his work
Klimt made sketches for practically everything. Sometimes there were more than a hundred drawings for a painting, each showing a different detail: a piece of clothing or a jewel, or a simple gesture. They crowded into his study, where it is said that his beloved cats had a habit of destroying them. Unfortunately, most of her sketchbooks were not destroyed by cats, but by a fire in Emilie Flöge’s apartment. Only three of the books survived. However, the curiosities of Gustav Klimt’s drawings are such that they allow us to offer a fascinating vision of the artist’s artistic and personal concerns.
8. Klimt’s erotic obsession
Among the many curiosities that Gustav Klimt had in his life, there is one that we cannot fail to mention. Klimt’s drawings not only reveal his mastery of illustration, but also they show an erotic obsession and a sexual freedom that do not agree with the covert and repressed society in which he moved. He draws them only in outline, omitting any internal modeling or shading of their bodies and almost always drawing attention to their genitals or breasts through the use of perspective, foreshortening, distortion, or other formal techniques.
9. How many children did Klimt have?
On the death of Gustav Klimt, there was no fewer than fourteen allegations that he was the father of an illegitimate child, of which only three were legally kept: two by Marie Zimmerman and one by María Ucicky (the boy was named Gustav after his father and later became a film director). However, there are no records that any other son of Klimt existed.
10. The Secret of The Kiss
One of the most famous paintings in art history was made by Klimt. Unlike other kisses like Munch’s or Rodin’s, Klimt treated a sexual theme in such an oblique way that it is not usually perceived. One of the curiosities in Gustav Klimt’s work is the closed and “feminine” space that is penetrated by the embracing lovers, whose combined forms suggest a swollen phallus, the streams of golden sperm-like ornamentation that flood the painting.
We have reached the end. Do you know more curiosities about Gustav Klimt? We read you! And if you liked this article, we recommend you read the curiosities of Andy Warhol.