Liegender Halbakt

1897–1917

Society portraits of Viennese ladies

Over twenty years Klimt painted nearly twenty society portraits of women, which gave him financial independence; Carl Moll introduced him to many of the sitters, most of them from the Jewish upper bourgeoisie. In the portraits the ladies are hidden in sumptuous clothing, their heads and hands seeming to float detached from reality.

1908–1914

Galerie Miethke: a portfolio of reproductions of Klimt's work

Galerie Miethke, headed by Carl Moll and Klimt's exclusive agent, began after the 1908 Kunstschau to issue a portfolio of reproductions to promote Klimt abroad — five instalments of ten plates each. Klimt chose the works and approved the quality of the reproductions himself; the fifth instalment was never produced.

1912

Chairman of the Austrian Artists' Union

In 1912 Klimt was elected chairman of the Austrian Artists' Union; in spring 1913 he attended the exhibition in Budapest in that capacity, where ten of his works were shown.

1913

The Munich exhibition and the Reininghaus prize jury

“The Virgin” and “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II” took part in the Eleventh International Art Exhibition in Munich; Carl Reininghaus invited Klimt to sit on the jury of the prize he had founded.

1914–1918

The war: colourful ladies and a good income

As if pushing the war out of his world, Klimt again painted the “beautiful Viennese women” — “Lady with a Fan”, “The Bride”, both “Dancers”; “Death and Life” is his only picture on a topical subject. His notebook shows that he earned well in the war years, collectors readily buying his portraits of elegant strangers.

1915

Death of his mother

His mother, Anna Klimt, died; Gustav continued to live on Westbahnstrasse with his two unmarried sisters.