Klimt
Taschen
Gustav Klimt s ornate art expresses the apocalyptic atmosphere of Vienna s upper middle class society around the turn of the 20th century a society devoted to the cultivation of aesthetic awareness and the cult of pleasure The ecstatic joy which Klimt 1862 1918 and his contemporaries found or hoped to find in beauty was constantly overshadowed by death And death therefore plays an important role in Klimt s art Klimt s fame however rests on his reputation as one of the greatest erotic painters and graphic artists of his times His drawings in particular which have been widely admired for their artistic excellence are dominated by the sensual portrayal of women
