Gustav Klimt - July 14, 1862 – February 6, 1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. Klimt is noted for his paintings, murals, sketches, and other art objects. Klimt's primary subject was the female body; his works are marked by a frank eroticism.
". . .proud individuality is especially evident in Klimt's portraits of Emilie Flöge (1902),Margaret Stonborough-Wittgenstein (1905), Fritza Riedler (1906), Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907) and Baroness Elisabeth Bachofen-Echt (ca. 1914)."
"Klimt's style drew upon an enormous range of sources: classical Greek, Byzantine, Egyptian, and Minoan art; late-medieval painting and photography. In synthesizing these diverse sources, Klimt's art achieved both individuality and extreme elegance."
RE: his painting, The Lady in Gold -
"Commissioned portraits of women were often uncruous affairs, reflecting the wealth and stature of their en. Klimt portrayed women as individuals, without the presence of a husband, father or children to suggest their domestic role."
