Gustav Klimt
From his earliest paintings, Gustav Klimt (Austrian, 1862–1918) disclosed the persistent themes of his art: the longings and fears of the human psyche. At the turn of the 20th century, Austrian society was in a state of turbulent change. A culture of prudishness and moral rectitude was collapsing and a new order was being born. The art world saw a clash between the bland, rigid establishment style and the emerging power, eroticism, and symbolism of works by the Vienna Secession—a group cofounded by Klimt. His sensual paintings are as alluring today as they were to his contemporaries. Klimt is the most famous of the Viennese Secessionists and one of the leading painters of Art Nouveau.