10 Artworks By Klimt You Should Know

Emilie Flöge was a couturière who also happened to be Klimt’s life partner. While Klimt was known for his womanizing ways, Emilie was the one woman who was always by his side when it come to companionship and design – she even designed gowns depicted in his paintings. In 1902, Klimt painted a standing portrait of Emilie, who is wearing a beautiful, long and embellished gown in colors of blues, purples, black and gold, which, like many of his works, were radical for the time. For the most part, the background is neutral, allowing Emilie, who looks right at the spectator, to be the main focal point.

The Three Ages of Woman (1905) is an allegorical painting depicting three women in varying stages of life, from a baby to an old woman – in other words, it represents the circle of life. A mother tenderly embraces her daughter while an elderly woman stands nearby, head looking downward with her hand covering her face. All three figures are nude; however, the young mother’s hair is adorned with flowers while a sheer, colorful cloth wraps around the lower portion of her and her baby’s body. The somber figure of the elderly woman, which may have been inspired by Rodin’s The Old Courtesan, is completely exposed with her saggy, wrinkling skin, signifying that the end is near. This particular work can be found in Rome at the Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna.

Many of Klimt’s paintings are very erotic; however, with Danäe, he manages to take it to a whole other level. Completed in 1907, the painting depicts Danäe from Greek mythology, who was locked in a bronze tower by her father in order to protect her from men, as he believed she would go on to have son who would end up killing him. Viewers see a nude Danäe sound asleep, and in this particular scene, she is being visited by Zeus ,who is impregnating her with golden coins that are sliding down between her legs while she has a look of contentment on her face. You can find this work in Vienna at the Galerie Würthle.

Showing pregnancy in works of art is not a common sight, especially in the past; however, Klimt’s Hope, IIdepicts just that. Painted from 1907-1908, this work features a woman cloaked in a colorful garment with her breasts exposed, looking down with her eyes closed. A skull is peeking out from her robe while three women — who almost seem to get swallowed up by the woman’s garment — at the bottom of the painting are also looking down. The background is neutral, drawing the viewer’s eyes to the center of the painting. While the title bears the word ‘hope,’ everything in the painting leads the spectator to believe that it’s not going to be okay. Find this one at MoMA in New York City.

Located at the National Gallery in Prague, The Virgin is a colorful display of brilliance by Klimt, and as with most of his works, this one is also brimming with symbolism. On the surface, it is a beautiful work featuring a central sleeping figure with six others surrounding her, adorned with bold blues, reds, greens, yellows and more, but when you look deeper, you will find various symbols alluding to the virgin becoming a woman ,such as the spirals on the dress (which represent fertility) and the slight parting of her legs. Wanting to capture a mood — or emotional feeling — as all Symbolists wanted at the time, Klimt succeeded with The Virgin, as the viewer is drawn into the painting, wondering what the the virgin is dreaming about.