Ständige Sammlung

The Upper Belvedere houses the impressive collection of Austrian art dating from the Middle Ages to the present day. At the heart of the displays of “art around 1900” is the world’s largest Gustav Klimt collection. The glittering highlights are Klimt’s golden pictures The Kiss and Judith, and masterpieces by Schiele and Kokoschka. Prominent works by the French Impressionists and the outstanding collection of Viennese Biedermeier paintings are further attractions at the Upper Belvedere.

The Belvedere has the largest collection in the world of Gustav Klimt's paintings. Klimt was a co-founder of the Secession and organiser of the exhibitions ("Kunstschau") of 1908 and 1909, hence a pivotal figure in the breakthrough of the international avant-garde in Vienna. The Belvedere shows his development from his first confrontation with impressionism, his work with the Secession ( The Kiss, 1908) and his late work, which assimilates the influence of the Nabis and of the younger generation of Austrian artists, including Egon Schiele.

Gustav Klimt was born the second of seven children on 14 July 1862. During his studies at the School of Decorative Arts ( Kunstgewerbschule), he founded a studio commune along with his brother Ernst and his fellow student Franz Matsch, the " Künstlercompagnie". From 1883, the Ringstrasse development provided them with major commissions to decorate the Burgtheater and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
In 1897, Klimt became one of the co-founders of the Vienna Secession. He was deeply committed to the renewal of art and the support of young artists like Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka.
The scandal surrounding his faculty paintings led in 1905 to his withdrawal from public commissions; from then on Klimt worked exclusively for the liberal haute bourgeoisie.
And so he created his world-famous female portraits. Their stylistic evolution can be traced most impressively in the Belvedere, starting with the early portrait of Sonja Knips (1898), then of Fritza Riedler (1906), a subtle example of austere, planar art, up to the unfinished portrait of Johanna Staude (1917/18). Meanwhile, Klimt also created non-commissioned works, predominantly with allegorical and symbolic content, the most famous of them being The Kiss (1908).
During the summer months, Klimt withdrew to the  Salzkammergut with the family of Emilie Flöge, his partner in life. Here he created most of his landscapes, among them Poppy Field (1907) and Avenue in the Schloss Kammer Gardens (1912).
Klimt was highly regarded during his lifetime, as is evident in the many commissions he received from the Viennese and international haute bourgeoisie ? Adele Bloch-Bauer and the Lederer family, for instance ? also in the invitations to take part in exhibitions and the honorary memberships of artists’ associations at home and abroad.
Gustav Klimt died as a result of a stroke on 6 February 1918 at only 56 years of age. He left many unfinished paintings behind him, among them The Bride and Adam and Eve.