Culture Watch: Vienna Celebrates Gustav Klimt’s 150th Birthday

Klimt, The KissSo iconic that it’s now one of the most popular reproduced prints of our time, “The Kiss” was painted in oil on canvas in 1907-1908 during Gustav Klimt’s “golden period.” In fact, the artist used gold leaf in many of his paintings, and “The Kiss” is the most famous example of this gilded style. The year 2012 marks the 150th anniversary of Gustav Klimt’s birth and Austria’s native son is being feted in a major way. Many Viennese museums are presenting special exhibitions of the paintings of the great modernist artist who founded the Secession movement.

Around 1900, Vienna was a hot bed for all forms of culture-- from literature and visual arts to architecture and music. With two million inhabitants, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian empire was the world’s fifth largest city in 1910, witnessing innovative developments that Klimt captured in his paintings.

Art lovers should head to The Belvedere, home to the world’s largest collection of works by Klimt. Other paintings can be viewed at the Leopold Museum, the Wien Museum, and the Albertina. For more information about Klimt 2012, check out the official website.