Austrian Symbolist painter Gustav Klimt was a leader of the Vienna Secession movement. Famed for his paintings of women that often incorporate gold leaf and the influence of Japanese prints, Klimt also created numerous murals, sketches and objets d’art. He was an important mentor to fellow Austrian artist Egon Schiele. Born in 1862 in Baumgarten outside Vienna, Kilmt began studying architectural drawing at the Vienna Kunstgewerbeschule art school in 1876. The artist’s early commissions were murals he completed with his brother, Ernst, throughout Vienna and which met with mixed reception due to their perceived erotic content. Klimt shifted away from public commissions in 1896, following the deaths of both his brother and father. Under new financial pressure to support his extended family, he increasingly worked in portraiture, and in 1897 would become associated with the Vienna Secession, a movement of Symbolists, Naturalist and Realists. Despite critical disdain for the work’s perceived erotic content, Klimt’s reputation as an artist continued to grow and his Golden Phase, for his use of gold leaf, marked the pinnacle of both his artistic style and his financial success. From these years came Klimt’s most famous painting, The Kiss (1907–08), which many believe to be a portrait Klimt with his lifelong companion Austrian fashion designer Emilie Louise Flöge. The works from this decade feature a distinctly Byzantine aesthetic, possibly inspired by Klimt’s trips to Ravenna and Venice. In 1918, at the height of his career, the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic claimed Klimt’s life at the age of 55. Klimt’s paintings, drawings and objet d’ art are held in the collections of the Neue Galerie, New York, the Upper Belvedere Museum and Palace, Vienna, and the Leopold Museum, Vienna. Works by Klimt have reliably performed well at auction. According to Sotheby’s Mei Moses, the average compound annual return for Gustav Klimt resold at auction between 2003 and 2017 was 4.9%. 76.3% of 76 such works increased in value.

Gustav Klimt

Masterpieces from the Lewis Collection

Gustav Klimt 1862 - 1918 Bildnis Gertrud Loew (Gertha Felsőványi) (Portrait of Gertrud Loew (Gertha Felsőványi)) signed Gustav Klimt and dated 1902 (upper left) oil on canvas 149.5 by 44.2 cm. 58⅞ by 17½ in. Executed in 1902.

View 1 of Lot 16: Bildnis Gertrud Loew (Gertha Felsőványi) (Portrait of Gertrud Loew (Gertha Felsőványi))

bildnis gertrud loew (gertha felsőványi) (portrait of gertrud loew (gertha felsőványi))

Modern Day Auction Including Masterpieces from the Lewis Collection

Gustav Klimt 1862 - 1918 Halbakt mit erhobenen Armen und angezogenen Schenkeln (Half Nude with Raised Arms and Bent Knees) stamped with the Nachlass mark and inscribed by Hermine Klimt Nachlass meines Bruders Gustav, Hermine Klimt (lower left) pencil on paper 56.5 by 36.5 cm. 22¼ by 14⅜ in. Executed circa 1916-17.

View 1 of Lot 406: Halbakt mit erhobenen Armen und angezogenen Schenkeln (Half Nude with Raised Arms and Bent Knees)

halbakt mit erhobenen armen und angezogenen schenkeln (half nude with raised arms and bent knees)

Gustav Klimt 1862 - 1918 Freundinnen nach rechts (Friends facing right) stamped faintly with the Nachlass mark (lower right) pencil on paper 37.5 by 56.5 cm. 14¾ by 22¼ in. Executed in 1904.

View 1 of Lot 405: Freundinnen nach rechts (Friends facing right)

freundinnen nach rechts (friends facing right)

Gustav KlimtStehendes Liebespaar, die Frau mit eingebeugtem linken Knie und erhobenem rechten Arm (A standing couple, the woman with her left knee bent and her right arm raised)pencil on paper21 ½ by 14 ¼ in.54.6 by 36.2 cm.Executed in 1917-18.

Stehendes Liebespaar, die Frau mit eingebeugtem linken Knie und erhobenem rechten Arm (A standing couple, the woman with her left knee bent and her right arm raised)

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