Baby (Cradle)

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.

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.

1917

Honorary member of the academies of Vienna and Munich

Klimt was elected an honorary member of the academies of fine arts of Vienna and Munich.

11 January 1918

A stroke, the hospital, pneumonia

A stroke paralysed Klimt's right side; in hospital, where he was put on a water bed for bedsores, he caught influenza and pneumonia. For three weeks the press printed bulletins, and on his deathbed he demanded that his sisters send for Emilie Flöge.

6 February 1918

Died