Klimt

Gustav Klimt's father was a gold engraver, and gold is what the son is remembered for. In the years around 1907 — his Golden Phase — he worked real gold leaf into his oil paintings, and Klimt wall art has been shorthand for romance and richness ever since. These are printed from the paintings, framed or on canvas, and made to order in our shop in the USA.

What We Carry

The Kiss (1907–08): two lovers wrapped in patterned gold at the edge of a flowered meadow. The Austrian state bought it the year it was first shown, and it has been in Vienna, now at the Belvedere, ever since.

Danaë, from the same years: the princess of Greek myth curled asleep while Zeus comes to her as a shower of gold. It is a nude, warmly painted, and one of the purest examples of what the Golden Phase was about.

Lady with a Fan (1917–18): a woman in profile against a glowing ground of birds and blossoms borrowed from the East Asian art Klimt collected. It was among the paintings still in his studio when he died in February 1918, one of his last portraits.

And Golden Tears, which is not a Klimt. It is often sold as one, but it was painted by the French artist Anne-Marie Zilberman in his manner, with gold-leaf tears down a woman's cheek. It sits on this page because people who love Klimt tend to love it too, and we would rather tell you whose it is.

Choosing For The Room

Gold changes with the light. The Kiss and Lady with a Fan look different at noon and by lamplight, which makes them good in a bedroom or a dining room used mostly in the evening. Danaë belongs in a bedroom rather than a hallway. Against a dark wall — navy, forest green, charcoal — Klimt's gold glows; on white it reads cleaner and more modern.

Framed Or Canvas

Framed prints come in four frame colors — Barnwood, Charcoal, Black, and Walnut — with an easel back, so the smaller sizes can stand on a shelf as well as hang. Canvas is a 1-inch gallery wrap that hangs without nails or tools, with a floating frame as the upgrade for a more finished edge. Everything is printed and finished to order in our family-owned shop in the USA. Black and Walnut frames carry the gold best.

A Gift Note

The Kiss is the wedding and anniversary painting, and has been for a century; nobody needs it explained. Lady with a Fan is the choice for somebody who already owns The Kiss.