Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt (1862–1918). Viennese painter who started out decorating theatres and ceilings and became the leading figure of the Vienna Secession. He is known for gold-leaf portraits and allegories such as The Kiss, but he also spent his summers painting square landscapes at Lake Attersee, and drew the female figure almost every day — thousands of pencil studies of models resting, reclining and undressing. He left no self-portrait and preferred that people look at his pictures instead of at him. The pieces here are in the public domain, shared openly by the museums that hold them.