Famous Gustav Klint Paintings

Gustav Klint was born near Vienna in 1862 and shown artistic abilities at a very early age.   In 1876 at only 15 years old, Gustav was awarded a scholarship to the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts where he began to perfect his art painting skills for the next 7 years. Gustav Klint first began as a professional artist painting large interior murals in public buildings. In 1888 Gustav was awarded the Golden Order of Merit from the Emperor himself for his part in the murals painted at the Burgtheater in Vienna. Klint was commissioned to paint 3 ceiling murals in 1894 in the Great Hall at the University of Vienna. The 3 paintings known as the Philosophy, Junisprudence and the Medicine were maybe a little a head of their time in a more conservative World. The majority of the public was less then happy with what he had painted and demanded they not be on display on the Great Hall. This would result in Gustav Klint's last public commission ever accepted. Klint was becoming we'll known for his desire to paint the female body which gave his paintings a edgier appearance as he slowly pushed the edge. In 1899 Gustav's painting the Nuda Verita further cementing his style of painting that was not meant for everyone.

Klint's Golden Phase can be seen throughout the pictures of several of his most famous paintings shown below where he used Gold Leaf within the paintings themselves. Probably the two most famous paintings done in the Golden Phase would be the painting known as "The Kiss" and the 'Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer' which recently sold at auction in 2006 for a Record $135,000,000.00 (One Hundred Thirty Five Million) which was the highest price paid for any painting at the time. Jackson Pollock's painting known as "No 5 1948" was sold later that year for a new world record at $140 Million which still stands to this day.

The Adele Bloch Bauer portrait was one in a collection of five paintings that had been stolen by the Nazis during World War 11. The other four paintings include 'Adele Bloch Bauer II' 'Birch Tree' 'The Apple Tree' and the 'Houses in Unterach on Lake Atter'. A Lady by the name of Maria Altmann was the heir to a Czech Sugar cane magnate who acquired the paintings from Gustav Klint himself. The painting's were traced back to the Australian Government as being in possession of the 5 painting collection. Iin 1999 Maria Altmann tried to sue in Austrailian Court for the return of the stolen paintings. According to Australian Law you must post a filing fee that is determined on the value of the property. In this case, the combined five paintings were estimated at $135 Million which put the filing fee costing her $1.5 Million Cash which she did not have. She successfully got the filing fee reduced to $350,000.00 but even that was too much. Maria soon had to drop the case and lost hope in recovering something that was stolen that rightfully belonged to her. In 2004 She once again filed a new Law Suit to recover the valuable Klint paintings, but this time in the United States Court in the District of California under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. The case ended up going all the way to the Supreme Court and ruled that the Australian Government could be held in a lawsuit. On January 20, 2006 the Courts ruled that the paintings be returned to the legal owner's relatives. Maria Altmann and several of her relatives later that year sold the Five Very Valuable Gustav Klint Paintings for a combined total of $327,000,000.00 (Three Hundred Twenty Seven Million)

Gustav Klint was a Man of few words in his life and in his writings. Klint instead preferred to let his art paintings speak for Him. From examining Gustav Klint's most famous paintings listed below, it's soon apperant what must of been constantly on his mind.

Below is a few Videos about Gustav Klink and his most famous paintings.

Listed below are pictures of some of Gustav Klint's most famous pieces of artwork. Click on the picture to see a larger image of any of his paintings.