WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.379 Welcome to the Deep Dives, where we peel back 00:00:02.379 --> 00:00:05.660 the layers of history, art, and well, sometimes 00:00:05.660 --> 00:00:08.699 high stakes legal drama to find the essential 00:00:08.699 --> 00:00:11.339 glittering truths. And today we are definitely 00:00:11.339 --> 00:00:13.699 opening the vault. We're focusing on a figure 00:00:13.699 --> 00:00:17.300 whose name is just synonymous with pure gilded 00:00:17.300 --> 00:00:19.960 aesthetic pleasure, Gustav Klimt. Yeah, we're 00:00:19.960 --> 00:00:21.559 talking about the Austrian symbolist, right? 00:00:21.640 --> 00:00:23.839 The undisputed master of Art Nouveau. Absolutely. 00:00:23.960 --> 00:00:26.579 His works are just instantly recognizable. That 00:00:26.579 --> 00:00:28.859 lavish, sometimes almost, you know, excessive 00:00:28.859 --> 00:00:31.960 use of gold. And his depiction of the female 00:00:31.960 --> 00:00:35.640 form so uncompromised. Amazing, wonderfully frank, 00:00:35.759 --> 00:00:38.159 and let's be honest, often shocking for its time. 00:00:38.320 --> 00:00:40.500 You look at something like the kiss that swirling 00:00:40.500 --> 00:00:43.799 cosmic gold -drenched embrace. It's iconic. Or 00:00:43.799 --> 00:00:45.700 the portrait of Adele Blockbauer the bearer. 00:00:45.700 --> 00:00:48.159 So aggressively beautiful. Right. And you see 00:00:48.159 --> 00:00:50.359 instant decadence. You think astronomical value. 00:00:50.520 --> 00:00:52.719 These paintings really represent the glittering 00:00:52.719 --> 00:00:55.240 peak of Viennese fantasy agriculture. But as 00:00:55.240 --> 00:00:57.640 the sources you shared reveal, and this is crucial, 00:00:57.799 --> 00:01:00.539 that beauty hides immense historical complexity. 00:01:00.859 --> 00:01:04.560 Definitely. A life steeped in controversy, profound 00:01:04.560 --> 00:01:07.420 private contradictions. And a really complex, 00:01:07.519 --> 00:01:10.500 often painful legacy tied directly to some of 00:01:10.500 --> 00:01:13.159 the darkest chapters of the 20th century. So. 00:01:13.609 --> 00:01:16.090 Our mission today really is to cut through that 00:01:16.090 --> 00:01:19.430 gilded surface. We need to place Klimt accurately 00:01:19.430 --> 00:01:22.469 within the context of Vienna, right? The society 00:01:22.469 --> 00:01:24.469 that first made him. And then violently rejected 00:01:24.469 --> 00:01:28.290 him in some ways. We need to explore the highly 00:01:28.290 --> 00:01:31.390 secretive private world that fueled his most 00:01:31.390 --> 00:01:33.909 distinctive creative output. And critically, 00:01:33.930 --> 00:01:36.390 we absolutely must dedicate substantial time 00:01:36.390 --> 00:01:39.730 to the enduring and necessary legal battles. 00:01:39.849 --> 00:01:42.650 The fights for restitution. Yeah, those battles 00:01:42.650 --> 00:01:44.859 can... continue to define the market, the history, 00:01:44.980 --> 00:01:47.019 and ultimately the ownership of his most valuable 00:01:47.019 --> 00:01:50.180 works even today. And as we navigate this, let's 00:01:50.180 --> 00:01:52.120 keep in mind that ultimate paradox of the man 00:01:52.120 --> 00:01:54.799 himself. This is the figure who had this lifelong 00:01:54.799 --> 00:01:58.379 devoted companionship with Emily Fleur. His companion. 00:01:58.640 --> 00:02:01.260 But simultaneously fathered at least 14 known 00:02:01.260 --> 00:02:03.500 children. I mean, contradiction isn't just a 00:02:03.500 --> 00:02:05.719 footnote in Klimt's life. No, it's absolutely 00:02:05.719 --> 00:02:08.780 the engine of his genius. It really is. So to 00:02:08.780 --> 00:02:10.719 understand the eventual rebel, the guy who breaks 00:02:10.719 --> 00:02:12.800 all the rules. We have to understand the academic 00:02:12.800 --> 00:02:16.199 prodigy first. Let's unpack that. Trace his path 00:02:16.199 --> 00:02:19.259 from, well, genuine hardship to becoming the 00:02:19.259 --> 00:02:21.460 establishment painter he absolutely had to be. 00:02:21.539 --> 00:02:23.680 Before he could tear it all down. Exactly. It 00:02:23.680 --> 00:02:25.879 really is jarring, isn't it? Trying to reconcile 00:02:25.879 --> 00:02:28.840 the image we had, the golden demigod, the master 00:02:28.840 --> 00:02:32.280 of luxurious texture, with the grim reality of 00:02:32.280 --> 00:02:36.300 his origins. Gustav Klimt, born 1862 in Baumgarten, 00:02:36.379 --> 00:02:38.840 which was basically at the suburb of Vienna then. 00:02:38.979 --> 00:02:42.050 Right. Second of seven kids. And this was by 00:02:42.050 --> 00:02:44.610 any measure a non -privileged start. Not at all. 00:02:45.050 --> 00:02:47.129 The sources confirmed the family lived under 00:02:47.129 --> 00:02:49.789 severe chronic economic pressure. Yeah. His father, 00:02:49.930 --> 00:02:53.500 Ernst Klimt, the elder. He was a gold engraver. 00:02:53.560 --> 00:02:56.039 Yeah, a skilled trade. But, you know, the income 00:02:56.039 --> 00:02:58.560 was often unstable. And his mother, Anna, she 00:02:58.560 --> 00:03:00.280 had musical ambitions herself, but they were 00:03:00.280 --> 00:03:02.199 kind of frustrated by their poverty. And you 00:03:02.199 --> 00:03:03.919 can really track that economic struggle through 00:03:03.919 --> 00:03:06.000 the family's instability, can't you? Oh, definitely. 00:03:06.259 --> 00:03:09.439 Between 1862 and 1884 alone, the Klimt family 00:03:09.439 --> 00:03:12.680 had to move no fewer than five different times, 00:03:12.819 --> 00:03:15.360 constantly looking for cheaper places to live 00:03:15.360 --> 00:03:17.639 within Vienna, which was growing fast but deeply 00:03:17.639 --> 00:03:20.340 stratified. That instability wasn't just financial, 00:03:20.460 --> 00:03:23.719 though. It was deeply personal, tragic even. 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:26.479 And I think, you know, it provides the psychological 00:03:26.479 --> 00:03:29.379 backdrop for some of the morbidity, the darker 00:03:29.379 --> 00:03:31.819 themes that eventually infuse his symbolist works. 00:03:32.159 --> 00:03:35.419 Absolutely. The early 1870s brought immense personal 00:03:35.419 --> 00:03:37.960 suffering for them. His five -year -old sister 00:03:37.960 --> 00:03:41.539 Anna died in 1874 after a long illness. Oh, wow. 00:03:41.819 --> 00:03:44.120 And at the same time, the eldest child, Cora, 00:03:44.340 --> 00:03:48.300 she suffered a profound mental collapse. became 00:03:48.300 --> 00:03:51.699 intensely disturbed, obsessively religious, apparently 00:03:51.699 --> 00:03:53.560 never fully recovered. And the mother suffered 00:03:53.560 --> 00:03:56.259 from depression, too. Chronic, deep depressions. 00:03:56.259 --> 00:03:58.280 Add all that up. Scholars have long argued that 00:03:58.280 --> 00:04:00.780 this early, intimate exposure to severe illness, 00:04:00.919 --> 00:04:03.659 death, mental disturbance, the persistent presence 00:04:03.659 --> 00:04:06.639 of grief, it profoundly shaped Quint's eventual 00:04:06.639 --> 00:04:09.280 artistic preoccupations. You mean his focus on 00:04:09.280 --> 00:04:12.189 life, death, femininity. That interconnectedness. 00:04:12.270 --> 00:04:14.590 Exactly. That lifelong focus. So even though 00:04:14.590 --> 00:04:17.509 all three sons, Gustav, Ernst, and Georg, showed 00:04:17.509 --> 00:04:20.069 artistic talent pretty early on. Yeah, recognizable 00:04:20.069 --> 00:04:22.709 talent. They had to approach art not as some 00:04:22.709 --> 00:04:26.050 lofty pursuit or luxury, but really as a path 00:04:26.050 --> 00:04:28.610 to survival. Financial stability for the whole 00:04:28.610 --> 00:04:31.209 family. Precisely. Art was vocational initially. 00:04:31.410 --> 00:04:36.170 At 14, that's 1876, Klimt enters the Vienna Kunstgebirge. 00:04:36.839 --> 00:04:38.939 The School of Applied Arts and Crafts. Right. 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:42.300 Geared toward decorative industrial arts. He 00:04:42.300 --> 00:04:44.899 studied architectural painting there until 1883, 00:04:45.100 --> 00:04:47.399 and he proved remarkably good at the conservative 00:04:47.399 --> 00:04:50.220 classical training they provided. So his goal 00:04:50.220 --> 00:04:52.420 wasn't revolution at this point. Not at all. 00:04:52.480 --> 00:04:55.120 His main artistic aspiration then was to replicate 00:04:55.120 --> 00:04:58.399 the huge success and high society patronage enjoyed 00:04:58.399 --> 00:05:00.699 by Vienna's top history painter, Hans McCart. 00:05:00.899 --> 00:05:03.899 His early work is strictly academic, historically 00:05:03.899 --> 00:05:07.300 styled, impeccably rendered. just what was expected. 00:05:07.579 --> 00:05:09.699 And this academic route, it quickly developed 00:05:09.699 --> 00:05:11.800 into a professional enterprise, didn't it? Yeah. 00:05:11.899 --> 00:05:13.879 Which is key for understanding the sheer volume 00:05:13.879 --> 00:05:16.680 of work he produced in the next decade. By 1880, 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:19.439 yeah, he, his younger brother Ernst, and another 00:05:19.439 --> 00:05:21.980 student, Franz von Masch, formed the Kunstler 00:05:21.980 --> 00:05:24.480 Company, the company of artists. But it wasn't 00:05:24.480 --> 00:05:26.720 some bohemian collective, right? No, no. It was 00:05:26.720 --> 00:05:29.060 a highly successful commercial venture. They 00:05:29.060 --> 00:05:31.839 specialized in large -scale architectural and 00:05:31.839 --> 00:05:34.560 interior decoration, and they got major commissions 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:37.079 quickly. averaging connections from their professors. 00:05:37.379 --> 00:05:39.480 How did that work? Well, they were recommended 00:05:39.480 --> 00:05:42.560 to Fellner and Helmer, a big Viennese firm that 00:05:42.560 --> 00:05:45.279 specialized in building theaters. And that partnership 00:05:45.279 --> 00:05:47.379 basically made them the go -to architectural 00:05:47.379 --> 00:05:50.019 painters for the whole region. What kind of scale 00:05:50.019 --> 00:05:51.480 are we talking about? It sounds like they were 00:05:51.480 --> 00:05:53.360 defining the look of public architecture across 00:05:53.360 --> 00:05:55.420 Central Europe. Oh, they're working on a monumental 00:05:55.420 --> 00:05:59.079 scale. Interior murals, vaulted ceilings for 00:05:59.079 --> 00:06:02.839 theater projects, in places as far apart as Fumimi 00:06:02.839 --> 00:06:06.029 and Bucharest. Also Carlsbad. And closer to home, 00:06:06.029 --> 00:06:08.449 too. Yeah. Locally, they did significant work 00:06:08.449 --> 00:06:10.910 on the interior murals for the staircases of 00:06:10.910 --> 00:06:13.509 the new Berg Theater in Vienna and the ceiling 00:06:13.509 --> 00:06:15.970 panels for the Kunsthistorisches Museum. And 00:06:15.970 --> 00:06:18.040 the Berg Theater work specifically. What was 00:06:18.040 --> 00:06:21.060 that like? For that project, Klimt focused on 00:06:21.060 --> 00:06:23.800 scenes like the altar of Dionysus, historical 00:06:23.800 --> 00:06:26.459 theatrical figures, all done in that rich historical 00:06:26.459 --> 00:06:28.779 style, exactly what the establishment expected 00:06:28.779 --> 00:06:32.439 and, frankly, loved. And that work brought him 00:06:32.439 --> 00:06:35.319 the absolute pinnacle of state recognition, which 00:06:35.319 --> 00:06:37.259 is such a key turning point when you think about 00:06:37.259 --> 00:06:40.199 what comes later. Definitely. In 1888, for the 00:06:40.199 --> 00:06:42.680 Berg Theater contributions, Emperor Franz Joseph 00:06:42.680 --> 00:06:46.519 50 himself awarded Klimt the Gold Cross of Merit. 00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:50.480 Then in 1890, he followed that up with the prestigious 00:06:50.480 --> 00:06:52.800 Kaiser Prize Award for his painting, Audience 00:06:52.800 --> 00:06:56.019 at the Old Berg Theater. So by age 28, Klimt 00:06:56.019 --> 00:06:58.720 was established, decorated, financially successful, 00:06:59.019 --> 00:07:01.379 a pillar of the Viennese art world. And this 00:07:01.379 --> 00:07:04.019 level of establishment success is precisely what 00:07:04.019 --> 00:07:06.779 makes his later rebellion so consequential. Exactly. 00:07:06.839 --> 00:07:10.410 But 1892. Yeah. That marks a devastating pivot 00:07:10.410 --> 00:07:13.329 point. Personally, artistically, it seems like 00:07:13.329 --> 00:07:15.269 it just ripped away his security, his professional 00:07:15.269 --> 00:07:18.029 structure. Yes. That year, the family's fragile 00:07:18.029 --> 00:07:20.889 stability just collapsed. Within 12 months, his 00:07:20.889 --> 00:07:23.089 father died of a stroke. Oh, no. And shortly 00:07:23.089 --> 00:07:25.430 after, his brother Ernst, who was, you know, 00:07:25.430 --> 00:07:27.389 an integral part of the Künstler company, died 00:07:27.389 --> 00:07:29.509 suddenly from pericarditis. The clump was left. 00:07:29.879 --> 00:07:32.259 Klimt, as the most established remaining son, 00:07:32.459 --> 00:07:34.839 was forced to take immediate and complete financial 00:07:34.839 --> 00:07:37.920 responsibility, not just for his mother and sister, 00:07:38.060 --> 00:07:40.180 but also for his widowed sister -in -law and 00:07:40.180 --> 00:07:43.259 her child. That period of grief, that overwhelming 00:07:43.259 --> 00:07:46.779 responsibility, it sounds like it directly stalled 00:07:46.779 --> 00:07:49.660 his productivity, didn't it? It did. The emotional 00:07:49.660 --> 00:07:53.259 and financial burden was immense. It led to a 00:07:53.259 --> 00:07:57.329 period of grief. minimal artistic output. And 00:07:57.329 --> 00:08:00.189 it's probably no coincidence that when he reemerged 00:08:00.189 --> 00:08:02.930 from this tragedy, he began radically developing 00:08:02.930 --> 00:08:05.250 the symbolist style that would soon define him. 00:08:05.329 --> 00:08:08.009 So historians argue this internal rupture, this 00:08:08.009 --> 00:08:10.509 sort of betrayal by life and stability. Yeah. 00:08:10.589 --> 00:08:12.970 That's what triggered the shift. That's the argument, 00:08:13.069 --> 00:08:15.389 yes. It pushed him toward finding a deeper, more 00:08:15.389 --> 00:08:17.949 personal artistic expression, moving away from 00:08:17.949 --> 00:08:19.790 the safe historical narratives he'd mastered. 00:08:20.250 --> 00:08:22.230 And the introduction of that figure, Nuda Veritas, 00:08:22.490 --> 00:08:24.850 Naked Truth, around this time. Often interpreted 00:08:24.850 --> 00:08:27.709 as his denunciation of that superficial, gilded 00:08:27.709 --> 00:08:30.490 society that masks, you know, deep -seated problems. 00:08:30.649 --> 00:08:32.710 He was starting to look for something truer. 00:08:32.809 --> 00:08:35.570 So that internal rupture, that search for Naked 00:08:35.570 --> 00:08:39.809 Truth, it culminated, organizationally at least, 00:08:39.889 --> 00:08:41.509 in the establishment of the Vienna Secession 00:08:41.509 --> 00:08:45.070 in 1897. This wasn't just a gradual change in 00:08:45.070 --> 00:08:48.049 style, was it? It feels like a revolution against 00:08:48.049 --> 00:08:50.629 the very conservatism he himself had just been 00:08:50.629 --> 00:08:54.129 decorated for. It was absolutely a conscious, 00:08:54.309 --> 00:08:57.250 organized schism. Klimt was a founding member 00:08:57.250 --> 00:08:59.789 and the first president of the secession. They 00:08:59.789 --> 00:09:02.110 broke away from the established academic body, 00:09:02.250 --> 00:09:04.669 the Society of Austrian Artists. And their aims 00:09:04.669 --> 00:09:06.690 were pretty ambitious, weren't they? Idealistic 00:09:06.690 --> 00:09:09.970 even. Very. They wanted to provide a real exhibition 00:09:09.970 --> 00:09:12.769 space for unconventional young artists. They 00:09:12.769 --> 00:09:15.049 wanted to actively bring the best foreign avant 00:09:15.049 --> 00:09:17.029 -garde art like French Impressionism symbolism 00:09:17.029 --> 00:09:20.110 to what was then a fairly insular Vienna. And 00:09:20.110 --> 00:09:22.250 crucially, showcase their own members' innovative 00:09:22.250 --> 00:09:24.870 work. Exactly. And the sources note something 00:09:24.870 --> 00:09:27.620 fascinating here. They weren't actually unified 00:09:27.620 --> 00:09:30.440 by a single style. Oh, right. That's vital. Yeah. 00:09:30.820 --> 00:09:34.379 Naturalists, realists, symbolists, they all coexisted 00:09:34.379 --> 00:09:37.299 within the secession. Their unity was more philosophical, 00:09:37.519 --> 00:09:39.779 a shared commitment to the Gesamtkunst work. 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:42.799 The total work of art. Right. The idea that all 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:45.500 art forms, painting, furniture design, architecture, 00:09:45.720 --> 00:09:47.940 were equally important and should be integrated. 00:09:48.259 --> 00:09:51.039 Their symbol was Pallas Athena, the Greek goddess 00:09:51.039 --> 00:09:54.440 of wisdom and arts. And Klimt painted her in 00:09:54.440 --> 00:09:57.850 1898, didn't he? in a very radical way yeah armor 00:09:57.850 --> 00:10:00.850 -clad but defiantly modern not some dusty classical 00:10:00.850 --> 00:10:03.490 figure they even got government land to build 00:10:03.490 --> 00:10:05.830 their iconic exhibition hall the one that still 00:10:05.830 --> 00:10:09.490 stands with the motto to every age its art to 00:10:09.490 --> 00:10:11.909 every art its freedom it really felt like a moment 00:10:11.909 --> 00:10:14.149 of true cultural liberation was happening it 00:10:14.149 --> 00:10:17.980 was a soaring moment definitely but It was about 00:10:17.980 --> 00:10:20.960 to crash head -on into the conservative sensibilities 00:10:20.960 --> 00:10:23.600 of the establishment via the infamous university 00:10:23.600 --> 00:10:27.559 paintings. Ah, yes. This commission is arguably 00:10:27.559 --> 00:10:29.379 the most important controversy of Klimt's entire 00:10:29.379 --> 00:10:31.690 career, isn't it? It really defined his move 00:10:31.690 --> 00:10:34.169 from public darling to private rebel. Absolutely. 00:10:34.230 --> 00:10:35.830 Let's dedicate some time to this because it's 00:10:35.830 --> 00:10:39.009 crucial. He was commissioned back in 1894, actually, 00:10:39.149 --> 00:10:43.149 to create three huge faculty paintings, Philosophy, 00:10:43.509 --> 00:10:46.049 Medicine, and Jurisprudence. And these were meant 00:10:46.049 --> 00:10:47.730 to decorate the ceiling of the University of 00:10:47.730 --> 00:10:49.970 Vienna's Great Hall. Correct. So what was the 00:10:49.970 --> 00:10:53.330 expectation and how did Klimt ultimately fail 00:10:53.330 --> 00:10:55.750 to meet it? Well, the expectation must have been 00:10:55.750 --> 00:10:59.250 straightforward, academic. Allegory, right? Idealized 00:10:59.250 --> 00:11:01.549 figures representing the noble pursuit of knowledge. 00:11:01.809 --> 00:11:05.129 Exactly. Think sanitized, classical, reassuring. 00:11:05.230 --> 00:11:08.429 What they got. While Klimt was now operating 00:11:08.429 --> 00:11:10.789 under the influence of his secessionist ideals, 00:11:10.990 --> 00:11:13.330 his personal trauma. He wasn't playing by the 00:11:13.330 --> 00:11:15.830 old rules anymore. Not at all. When he finally 00:11:15.830 --> 00:11:18.409 presented the works around 1900, he delivered 00:11:18.409 --> 00:11:21.639 something entirely different. Shockingly different. 00:11:21.759 --> 00:11:25.220 Instead of noble pursuits, he depicted this horrifying, 00:11:25.620 --> 00:11:27.980 almost chaotic vision of the human condition. 00:11:28.179 --> 00:11:30.259 Precisely. Take medicine, for example. Instead 00:11:30.259 --> 00:11:33.200 of some idealized Aesculapius figure. The god 00:11:33.200 --> 00:11:35.559 of healing. Right. Instead, he showed this horrifying 00:11:35.559 --> 00:11:39.279 vertical column of swirling, nude, emaciated 00:11:39.279 --> 00:11:42.500 bodies representing the cycle of suffering, birth, 00:11:42.740 --> 00:11:45.679 decay, culminating the figure of death. Wow. 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:48.320 And he included a nude female figure, Hygieia, 00:11:48.340 --> 00:11:50.440 the personification of hell, but she's looking 00:11:50.440 --> 00:11:52.799 away from this chaotic mass, sort of detached 00:11:52.799 --> 00:11:55.720 aloof. And philosophy was similar. A similarly 00:11:55.720 --> 00:11:59.940 vast, undefined, disturbing mass of intertwined, 00:11:59.940 --> 00:12:03.559 drifting humanity, lost in the cosmos, questioning 00:12:03.559 --> 00:12:06.480 everything, not exactly celebrating academic 00:12:06.480 --> 00:12:08.700 certainty. This wasn't just an aesthetic disagreement 00:12:08.700 --> 00:12:12.080 then. This was a deliberate, philosophical, and 00:12:12.080 --> 00:12:15.129 social affront. especially in Vienna at that 00:12:15.129 --> 00:12:17.549 time. A society terrified of its own underlying 00:12:17.549 --> 00:12:19.830 chaos. Absolutely. And particularly sensitive 00:12:19.830 --> 00:12:23.250 to depictions of disease and unchecked sexuality, 00:12:23.710 --> 00:12:26.009 you know, given the prevalence of syphilis then. 00:12:26.169 --> 00:12:28.009 So the reaction wasn't just critical. Oh, it 00:12:28.009 --> 00:12:30.549 was hysterical. The works were condemned by the 00:12:30.549 --> 00:12:33.090 press, university professors, political figures, 00:12:33.330 --> 00:12:34.830 religious leaders. They were called pornographic, 00:12:35.190 --> 00:12:38.460 perverse, unfit for a temple of science. How 00:12:38.460 --> 00:12:41.039 many professors protested? More than 80 faculty 00:12:41.039 --> 00:12:43.139 members signed a petition demanding the work 00:12:43.139 --> 00:12:45.559 be rejected. Klimt had basically transformed 00:12:45.559 --> 00:12:48.379 traditional allegory into this explicitly sexual, 00:12:48.620 --> 00:12:51.440 disturbing, deeply pessimistic view of humanity. 00:12:51.759 --> 00:12:54.200 And the result was, well, absolute defeat for 00:12:54.200 --> 00:12:56.159 Klimt in the public sphere, wasn't it? But at 00:12:56.159 --> 00:12:58.840 the same time, it kind of cemented his identity 00:12:58.840 --> 00:13:01.440 as this uncompromising artist. It was terminal 00:13:01.440 --> 00:13:04.500 for his public career. Klimt renounced the assignment. 00:13:05.070 --> 00:13:08.149 He returned the 4 ,000 gulden advance he'd received. 00:13:08.330 --> 00:13:10.649 He gave the money back. Yep. And the paintings 00:13:10.649 --> 00:13:13.509 were never installed in the Great Hall. This 00:13:13.509 --> 00:13:16.149 episode decisively marked the end of his collaboration 00:13:16.149 --> 00:13:18.970 with the state. He never accepted another public 00:13:18.970 --> 00:13:22.830 commission after that. He chose freedom, defiance, 00:13:22.950 --> 00:13:26.610 over state patronage. He did. And the tragic 00:13:26.610 --> 00:13:30.169 final chapter for those paintings. It's a horrifying 00:13:30.169 --> 00:13:32.389 coincidence of history, really ties them right 00:13:32.389 --> 00:13:34.409 back to the collapse of the very empire that 00:13:34.409 --> 00:13:36.490 had both fostered and then rejected him. What 00:13:36.490 --> 00:13:38.470 happened to them? It's one of the great losses 00:13:38.470 --> 00:13:41.529 in modern art history. In the chaotic final days 00:13:41.529 --> 00:13:45.190 of World War Two, May 1945. All three of the 00:13:45.190 --> 00:13:48.090 faculty paintings, philosophy, medicine, jurisprudence, 00:13:48.110 --> 00:13:50.710 were being stored in a place called Schloss Immendorf. 00:13:51.309 --> 00:13:53.809 Retreating German forces deliberately set fire 00:13:53.809 --> 00:13:56.330 to the castle to prevent the works from falling 00:13:56.330 --> 00:13:59.090 into Allied hands. Oh, my God. They were incinerated. 00:13:59.129 --> 00:14:01.830 Completely destroyed. Along with 10 other significant 00:14:01.830 --> 00:14:04.049 works by Klimt, including one called Schubert 00:14:04.049 --> 00:14:06.169 at the Piano. We only know them today from black 00:14:06.169 --> 00:14:07.769 and white photographs. That's heartbreaking. 00:14:08.700 --> 00:14:12.340 So that whole period forced Klimt to really solidify 00:14:12.340 --> 00:14:15.159 his defiant stance. We see that symbolic inclusion 00:14:15.159 --> 00:14:17.899 of Nuda Veritas, the naked truth. Right. In works 00:14:17.899 --> 00:14:21.340 like the 1898 Palace Athene and the 1899 painting 00:14:21.340 --> 00:14:24.279 of the same name. It's an obvious nod to the 00:14:24.279 --> 00:14:26.559 kind of honesty the establishment just couldn't 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:28.100 handle. And he wasn't quiet about it either. 00:14:28.490 --> 00:14:31.169 He actively articulated that stance. Famously. 00:14:31.169 --> 00:14:33.750 He placed that quote by Friedrich Schiller right 00:14:33.750 --> 00:14:37.190 on the frame of the 1899 Nuda Veritas. Which 00:14:37.190 --> 00:14:39.690 says, If you cannot please everyone with your 00:14:39.690 --> 00:14:42.470 deeds and your art, please only a few. To please 00:14:42.470 --> 00:14:45.740 many is bad. Wow. That's basically his personal 00:14:45.740 --> 00:14:48.019 manifesto, isn't it? Absolutely. A statement 00:14:48.019 --> 00:14:51.580 of isolation, defiance, marking the moment he 00:14:51.580 --> 00:14:54.000 decided his allegiance was only to his own vision 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:56.539 and to his small circle of enlightened patrons. 00:14:56.919 --> 00:14:59.019 And he didn't lose his sense of humor about it 00:14:59.019 --> 00:15:00.840 all either. That anecdote about the painting 00:15:00.840 --> 00:15:03.919 Goldfish, it shows his resentment was still bubbling 00:15:03.919 --> 00:15:06.220 away. Oh, yeah. The painting features a very 00:15:06.220 --> 00:15:09.259 prominent naked woman showing her, well, her 00:15:09.259 --> 00:15:11.740 backside quite ostentatiously. And Klimt wanted 00:15:11.740 --> 00:15:15.159 to call it. To my critics. maliciously he was 00:15:15.159 --> 00:15:17.360 only talked out of it by his friends who were 00:15:17.360 --> 00:15:19.940 worried about the you know legal and social fallout 00:15:19.940 --> 00:15:23.019 he was actively trolling the critics who'd savaged 00:15:23.019 --> 00:15:25.740 his university paintings that defiance you see 00:15:25.740 --> 00:15:28.159 it again in the beethoven freeze right completed 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:31.659 in 1902 for the 14th vienna secessionist exhibition 00:15:31.659 --> 00:15:35.629 a tribute to the composer The Frieze was another 00:15:35.629 --> 00:15:39.409 temporary Gesamtkunstwerk installation, celebrating 00:15:39.409 --> 00:15:42.309 the union of painting, sculpture, architecture. 00:15:42.710 --> 00:15:46.269 It was monumental, dense with symbolism. And 00:15:46.269 --> 00:15:48.029 included that portrait of Beethoven that looked 00:15:48.029 --> 00:15:50.649 like someone else. Exactly. It bore a clear facial 00:15:50.649 --> 00:15:53.429 resemblance to the celebrated but often contentious 00:15:53.429 --> 00:15:56.929 contemporary composer Gustav Mahler, who was 00:15:56.929 --> 00:15:58.809 director of the Vienna Chord Opera at the time. 00:15:58.970 --> 00:16:01.450 So Klimt was affirming his allegiance to the 00:16:01.450 --> 00:16:04.679 contemporary visionary artists of Vienna. Rejecting 00:16:04.679 --> 00:16:06.899 the dead hand of the past. Precisely. So it's 00:16:06.899 --> 00:16:09.320 clear by the early 1900s, Klimt had completely 00:16:09.320 --> 00:16:12.039 turned his back on state approval. He chose the 00:16:12.039 --> 00:16:14.700 path of the defiant insider, creating art for 00:16:14.700 --> 00:16:17.440 a selective, wealthy group of patrons. A group 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:19.639 that would soon fund his defining golden phase. 00:16:19.899 --> 00:16:22.639 And that defiant path led him straight into what 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:25.200 became his most recognizable and frankly commercially 00:16:25.200 --> 00:16:28.980 successful period. The golden phase. Which started 00:16:28.980 --> 00:16:32.000 when? It really began in the late 1890s, but 00:16:32.000 --> 00:16:35.740 it truly codified his style from about 1900 onward, 00:16:35.799 --> 00:16:39.139 marking his move from, say, symbolist outrage 00:16:39.139 --> 00:16:41.940 to symbolist opulence. And when we talk about 00:16:41.940 --> 00:16:43.700 gold here, we're not just talking about paint 00:16:43.700 --> 00:16:46.360 color, are we? We mean actual metal leaf. That's 00:16:46.360 --> 00:16:48.960 a huge technical shift. It is a massive shift. 00:16:49.080 --> 00:16:51.620 What was the core inspiration for embracing this 00:16:51.620 --> 00:16:54.240 incredibly lavish use of materials? Yeah, where 00:16:54.240 --> 00:16:56.519 did that come from? Well, the shift seems twofold. 00:16:56.919 --> 00:17:00.120 Aesthetic and experiential. The main artistic 00:17:00.120 --> 00:17:02.519 inspiration came directly from his travels, particularly 00:17:02.519 --> 00:17:05.799 trips to Venice and Ravenna. Ah, the mosaics. 00:17:06.039 --> 00:17:08.579 Exactly. Those cities are famous for their Byzantine 00:17:08.579 --> 00:17:11.119 mosaics, created using gold and silver tesserae. 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:14.559 They give surfaces this rich, shimmering, eternally 00:17:14.559 --> 00:17:16.960 stable texture. And that profound experience 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:19.519 with Byzantine art clearly influenced his transition 00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:22.000 to using actual gold leaf, not just yellow paint. 00:17:22.160 --> 00:17:24.160 And that led to flattening the space, emphasizing 00:17:24.160 --> 00:17:27.440 pattern. Right, developing a style characterized 00:17:27.440 --> 00:17:30.279 by flattening the spatial dimension and emphasizing 00:17:30.279 --> 00:17:33.599 decorative, abstract patterning. Okay, so was 00:17:33.599 --> 00:17:37.380 the gold purely an aesthetic choice? Or was this 00:17:37.380 --> 00:17:40.859 luxurious material also maybe a deliberate, calculated 00:17:40.859 --> 00:17:44.460 provocation? against the very establishment that 00:17:44.460 --> 00:17:47.079 had just rejected his work as immoral. I think 00:17:47.079 --> 00:17:48.740 it was probably both, and that's what makes it 00:17:48.740 --> 00:17:51.519 so clever. By using gold, he embraced luxury, 00:17:51.779 --> 00:17:53.960 which definitely appealed to his new patrons, 00:17:54.079 --> 00:17:56.539 wealthy industrialists. Right. He was creating 00:17:56.539 --> 00:18:00.420 these private icons of beauty sexuality for a 00:18:00.420 --> 00:18:03.160 select few. Exactly. Art that celebrated opulence. 00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:05.099 It kind of turned the tables on the critics who'd 00:18:05.099 --> 00:18:07.779 called his previous work ugly. He proved he could 00:18:07.779 --> 00:18:10.220 command the most expensive material and create 00:18:10.220 --> 00:18:12.980 staggering beauty. It's not on the state's terms 00:18:12.980 --> 00:18:14.980 anymore. And the peak works of this phase are 00:18:14.980 --> 00:18:17.240 just cultural touchstones, aren't they? Portrait 00:18:17.240 --> 00:18:20.299 of Adele Bloch Bauer I from 1907. And The Kiss, 00:18:20.519 --> 00:18:23.740 1907 -08. Everyone knows The Kiss. But we can't 00:18:23.740 --> 00:18:25.839 forget the elaborate stocklet frieze, right? 00:18:25.940 --> 00:18:28.059 That was his most ambitious decorative project. 00:18:28.380 --> 00:18:31.039 It really defined his Gesamtkunstwerk ideals 00:18:31.039 --> 00:18:34.119 in practice. It was part of the extremely lavish 00:18:34.119 --> 00:18:36.740 Stocklet Palace in Brussels, designed by the 00:18:36.740 --> 00:18:39.019 architect Joseph Hoffman for a wealthy Belgian 00:18:39.019 --> 00:18:41.720 industrialist, Adolphe Stocklet. This was where 00:18:41.720 --> 00:18:43.819 the arts and crafts ethos of the secession became 00:18:43.819 --> 00:18:47.190 pure unadulterated luxury. Precisely. Klimt's 00:18:47.190 --> 00:18:49.210 contributions to the dining room, these massive 00:18:49.210 --> 00:18:52.250 mosaics titled Fulfillment and Expectation, were 00:18:52.250 --> 00:18:56.029 executed between 1905 and 1911. And Klimt himself 00:18:56.029 --> 00:18:58.410 considered them the pinnacle of his work. Really? 00:18:58.529 --> 00:19:00.869 Yeah. He publicly stated they represented probably 00:19:00.869 --> 00:19:03.069 the ultimate stage of my development of ornament. 00:19:03.309 --> 00:19:06.369 The complex, swirling patterns combining symbolism 00:19:06.369 --> 00:19:08.990 and abstraction. They cemented his reputation 00:19:08.990 --> 00:19:11.789 as the master of high -end decorative modernism. 00:19:12.009 --> 00:19:14.430 Okay, let's pivot a bit. From the public -facing 00:19:14.430 --> 00:19:18.690 gilded world to the the deeply intimate, highly 00:19:18.690 --> 00:19:20.990 contradictory private world that sustained him. 00:19:21.130 --> 00:19:24.309 The relationship with Emily Louise Fluge is just 00:19:24.309 --> 00:19:26.450 central to the whole Klimt myth, isn't it? It 00:19:26.450 --> 00:19:28.789 really is. Emily Fluge was his lifelong companion. 00:19:29.109 --> 00:19:31.849 He met her in the early 1890s. She was actually 00:19:31.849 --> 00:19:33.869 the sister -in -law of his late brother Ernst's 00:19:33.869 --> 00:19:36.470 wife. Right. And they took annual summer holidays 00:19:36.470 --> 00:19:39.089 together at Lake Battersea. Their connection 00:19:39.089 --> 00:19:42.569 was one of deep, enduring intimacy. Communicate 00:19:42.569 --> 00:19:44.650 her often through hundreds of postcards and letters. 00:19:45.089 --> 00:19:48.180 Yet... The sources are highly consistent on this 00:19:48.180 --> 00:19:51.319 point. Their relationship likely remained platonic. 00:19:51.500 --> 00:19:54.819 Which stands in remarkable, almost absurd contrast 00:19:54.819 --> 00:19:58.539 to the overt, sometimes brutally explicit eroticism 00:19:58.539 --> 00:20:00.779 of his artwork. It does. It's a huge contrast. 00:20:01.180 --> 00:20:03.019 She wasn't just his companion, though. She was 00:20:03.019 --> 00:20:05.119 his collaborator in design, too, wasn't she? 00:20:05.240 --> 00:20:07.440 Yeah. Linking him directly to the Art Nouveau 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:10.329 movement in fashion. Yes. Emily was a successful 00:20:10.329 --> 00:20:12.890 fashion designer herself, a pioneering figure 00:20:12.890 --> 00:20:15.730 in Viennese fashion, actually. She opened a successful 00:20:15.730 --> 00:20:18.230 salon with her sisters. And Klimt was deeply 00:20:18.230 --> 00:20:20.549 involved in designing many of the reformed dresses, 00:20:20.670 --> 00:20:23.450 these flowing, unbound garments that she produced 00:20:23.450 --> 00:20:26.309 and modeled. So that partnership shows Klimt's 00:20:26.309 --> 00:20:28.569 commitment to integrating fine art and craft, 00:20:28.869 --> 00:20:31.329 still living those secessionist ideals through 00:20:31.329 --> 00:20:34.369 applied arts like fashion. Exactly. Further cementing 00:20:34.369 --> 00:20:37.069 those ideals. But the contradiction remains jarring. 00:20:37.660 --> 00:20:40.779 He's maintaining this unique, possibly asexual, 00:20:40.779 --> 00:20:43.680 lifelong partnership, while simultaneously being, 00:20:43.819 --> 00:20:47.039 well, sexually prolific. That's the key tension, 00:20:47.160 --> 00:20:49.240 isn't it? While his connection to Emily provided 00:20:49.240 --> 00:20:52.680 emotional stability, Klimt was sexually very 00:20:52.680 --> 00:20:56.059 active. He cultivated intense, intimate relationships 00:20:56.059 --> 00:20:58.680 with his models, and often with his female patrons, 00:20:58.819 --> 00:21:01.529 too. And the number of children. He's reliably 00:21:01.529 --> 00:21:04.230 documented as having fathered at least 14 children, 00:21:04.410 --> 00:21:06.890 though, you know, due to the complicated nature 00:21:06.890 --> 00:21:09.589 of Viennese laws back then and his very discreet 00:21:09.589 --> 00:21:12.289 lifestyle, only four were legally recognized 00:21:12.289 --> 00:21:14.369 after his death. And what's interesting here, 00:21:14.430 --> 00:21:16.490 the sources mentioned his choice of models and 00:21:16.490 --> 00:21:19.009 patrons often came from the assimilated Jewish 00:21:19.009 --> 00:21:22.420 Viennese haute bourgeoisie. Yes, this elite clientele 00:21:22.420 --> 00:21:24.240 was often quite progressive in their artistic 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:27.259 tastes, but also, tragically, often victims of 00:21:27.259 --> 00:21:29.819 the underlying antisemitism that Klimt himself 00:21:29.819 --> 00:21:32.700 seemed sort of immune to, or at least unaffected 00:21:32.700 --> 00:21:34.779 by, professionally. And he was considered progressive 00:21:34.779 --> 00:21:37.660 for his time in how he depicted women. Very much 00:21:37.660 --> 00:21:40.500 so. He gave them an active, central, uninhibited 00:21:40.500 --> 00:21:43.460 role in sexuality within his work. He would dedicate 00:21:43.460 --> 00:21:46.539 about one large format portrait to a woman each 00:21:46.539 --> 00:21:48.839 year, transforming them into these dangerous, 00:21:49.059 --> 00:21:52.519 alluring femme fatales, engaging themes of eros, 00:21:52.519 --> 00:21:55.660 sexuality, the cycle of life, like in The Three 00:21:55.660 --> 00:21:58.200 Ages of Woman from 1905. Which shows the young 00:21:58.200 --> 00:22:00.579 woman and the decaying old woman bound together. 00:22:00.799 --> 00:22:03.700 Right, in the same composition. Stark. What about 00:22:03.700 --> 00:22:06.220 Klimt himself, though? We imagine this master 00:22:06.220 --> 00:22:09.079 of opulence may be surrounded by luxury, but 00:22:09.079 --> 00:22:11.500 his personal working style sounds almost ascetic. 00:22:11.920 --> 00:22:14.980 Deeply eccentric. He actively cultivated a private, 00:22:15.119 --> 00:22:18.299 almost reclusive persona. He deliberately avoided 00:22:18.299 --> 00:22:21.000 high society functions, apparently rejected jargon, 00:22:21.099 --> 00:22:23.319 kept his conversations simple. And his working 00:22:23.319 --> 00:22:25.299 habits. When working in his studio, which was 00:22:25.299 --> 00:22:27.900 largely devoted to the long, painstaking process 00:22:27.900 --> 00:22:30.960 of creation, he famously wore sandals and a long, 00:22:31.019 --> 00:22:33.500 loose robe. Blue or gray, usually. Often with 00:22:33.500 --> 00:22:36.279 no undergarments. Just for comfort. prioritizing 00:22:36.279 --> 00:22:38.339 comfort and efficiency over social norms, it 00:22:38.339 --> 00:22:40.339 seems. And his painting process was incredibly 00:22:40.339 --> 00:22:42.759 slow, required his subjects to endure lengthy, 00:22:43.039 --> 00:22:45.680 often tedious sittings. He also left behind one 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:47.599 of the most revealing statements about his desire 00:22:47.599 --> 00:22:49.819 for anonymity, didn't he? That rare commentary 00:22:49.819 --> 00:22:53.200 on a non -existent self -portrait. Yes. It perfectly 00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:55.359 articulates his belief that the art should speak, 00:22:55.500 --> 00:22:58.579 not the artist. He wrote, and I'm paraphrasing 00:22:58.579 --> 00:23:01.240 slightly, I have never painted a self -portrait. 00:23:01.359 --> 00:23:03.940 I am less interested in myself as a subject for 00:23:03.940 --> 00:23:06.000 a painting than I am in other people, above all 00:23:06.000 --> 00:23:08.220 women. Right. And then he says, Whoever wants 00:23:08.220 --> 00:23:10.759 to know something about me ought to look carefully 00:23:10.759 --> 00:23:13.880 at my pictures. It's an artist asserting complete 00:23:13.880 --> 00:23:17.500 control over his public narrative, forcing you, 00:23:17.720 --> 00:23:20.160 the viewer, to look at the work, not the man. 00:23:20.650 --> 00:23:22.950 Beyond the big gilded commissions, the sources 00:23:22.950 --> 00:23:25.630 highlight his meticulous dedication to publishing 00:23:25.630 --> 00:23:28.690 folios of his work. Yeah. Which also expose the 00:23:28.690 --> 00:23:31.289 full breadth of his erotic drawings. Yes. The 00:23:31.289 --> 00:23:34.329 first folio, Das erect Gustav Klimt's, the work 00:23:34.329 --> 00:23:37.089 of Gustav Klimt published between 1908 and 1914, 00:23:37.390 --> 00:23:40.289 was personally supervised by Klimt himself. And 00:23:40.289 --> 00:23:43.759 it categorized his work. Right. 50 images categorized 00:23:43.759 --> 00:23:46.299 into the major themes he tackled. Allegorical, 00:23:46.420 --> 00:23:50.099 erotic symbolist, landscapes, mythical, and portraits. 00:23:50.380 --> 00:23:53.359 It was his way of defining his own oeuvre during 00:23:53.359 --> 00:23:55.619 his lifetime. But it was the folio released just 00:23:55.619 --> 00:23:57.599 after his death that caused a second wave of 00:23:57.599 --> 00:23:59.400 scandal, wasn't it? Yeah. Revealing the true 00:23:59.400 --> 00:24:02.319 frankness of his private sketches. That was Finn 00:24:02.319 --> 00:24:04.700 von Zwanzig Hans Zeichnung, 25 drawings released 00:24:04.700 --> 00:24:07.519 in 1919. And yeah, it contained drawings that 00:24:07.519 --> 00:24:10.720 were highly explicitly erotic. Like what? Defections 00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:13.559 of masturbating women, sapphic embraces, just 00:24:13.559 --> 00:24:16.720 raw, unrestrained sexuality. These drawings were 00:24:16.720 --> 00:24:19.140 as polarizing as his university paintings had 00:24:19.140 --> 00:24:21.400 been two decades earlier. So who was buying these? 00:24:21.640 --> 00:24:23.480 They found a specific niche, apparently, among 00:24:23.480 --> 00:24:26.180 a small group of mostly male, affluent patrons 00:24:26.180 --> 00:24:29.279 who valued private, high -end erotica. Sometimes 00:24:29.279 --> 00:24:31.619 Klimt even provided illustrations for books like 00:24:31.619 --> 00:24:34.180 Lucian's Dialogues of the Courtesans. Wow. Okay, 00:24:34.220 --> 00:24:36.240 before we move on, we can't forget his landscapes. 00:24:36.720 --> 00:24:38.980 They almost seem like a brief respite from the 00:24:39.019 --> 00:24:41.160 the intensity of the gilded studio world. They 00:24:41.160 --> 00:24:43.480 do offer that feeling, but they're also technically 00:24:43.480 --> 00:24:46.420 fascinating in their own right. Klimt spent his 00:24:46.420 --> 00:24:48.960 annual summer holidays at Lake Attersee with 00:24:48.960 --> 00:24:51.420 the Floge family. That's where he created works 00:24:51.420 --> 00:24:54.180 like Schloss by the Water. And the locals had 00:24:54.180 --> 00:24:56.259 a nickname for him. They did. They called him 00:24:56.259 --> 00:25:00.859 Waldschratt the Forest Demon, a nod to his intense, 00:25:00.940 --> 00:25:04.140 focused dedication while painting outdoors, often 00:25:04.140 --> 00:25:08.000 clad only in his famous robe. So why do art historians 00:25:08.000 --> 00:25:11.180 find these landscapes so interesting? beyond 00:25:11.180 --> 00:25:13.799 just being scenic. Well, technically, he deliberately 00:25:13.799 --> 00:25:16.099 flattened the deep space in these compositions, 00:25:16.480 --> 00:25:18.980 makes them look more like tapestries or decorative 00:25:18.980 --> 00:25:21.740 patterns, which aligns them philosophically with 00:25:21.740 --> 00:25:24.500 his work in the golden phase, actually. And there's 00:25:24.500 --> 00:25:26.240 that theory about how he achieved that. Yeah, 00:25:26.299 --> 00:25:28.460 what's really unique is the belief, and it's 00:25:28.460 --> 00:25:30.940 pretty well supported, that he used a telescope 00:25:30.940 --> 00:25:34.259 or maybe an opera glass to closely observe distant 00:25:34.259 --> 00:25:36.400 details, like the specific texture of a tree 00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:38.640 bark or a pattern on a house. And then translate 00:25:38.640 --> 00:25:41.400 that high resolution pattern. onto the flat canvas. 00:25:41.720 --> 00:25:44.240 Exactly, eliminating the traditional illusion 00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:47.000 of depth. It's a purely modern way of seeing 00:25:47.000 --> 00:25:50.319 and painting the world. Klimt's artistic momentum, 00:25:50.640 --> 00:25:52.619 you know, it really continued right up until 00:25:52.619 --> 00:25:56.210 his death. In 1911, his painting Death and Life 00:25:56.210 --> 00:25:58.670 received first prize at the Rome exhibitions. 00:25:59.109 --> 00:26:01.789 But he wasn't finished with it, was he? No, ever 00:26:01.789 --> 00:26:04.750 the meticulous reviser. He went back four years 00:26:04.750 --> 00:26:08.269 later in 1915 and dramatically reworked the background, 00:26:08.529 --> 00:26:11.390 changed it from that bright gold of his iconic 00:26:11.390 --> 00:26:15.329 phase to a dark, somber blue, perhaps reflecting 00:26:15.329 --> 00:26:17.690 the, you know, the gathering gloom of the First 00:26:17.690 --> 00:26:20.359 World War. But like so many figures of that era, 00:26:20.460 --> 00:26:23.339 his productive life was cut brutally short. A 00:26:23.339 --> 00:26:25.839 series of cascading medical issues in 1918. It 00:26:25.839 --> 00:26:27.920 was swift and tragic. He suffered a stroke on 00:26:27.920 --> 00:26:30.119 January 11th, left his right side paralyzed. 00:26:30.460 --> 00:26:32.500 Already weakened, he then contracted pneumonia, 00:26:32.779 --> 00:26:35.380 brought on by the devastating Spanish flu pandemic 00:26:35.380 --> 00:26:38.240 that was raging. And he died in Vienna on February 00:26:38.240 --> 00:26:41.779 6th, 1918. He was only 55. And his last painting 00:26:41.779 --> 00:26:44.059 was left unfinished. Yes, The Stunning Lady with 00:26:44.059 --> 00:26:46.700 a Fan, left unfinished on the easel in his studio. 00:26:47.200 --> 00:26:49.460 Yet his influence was already profound by then, 00:26:49.559 --> 00:26:51.680 wasn't it? Yeah. Especially on the next generation 00:26:51.680 --> 00:26:54.759 of Viennese expressionists. Absolutely. His impact 00:26:54.759 --> 00:26:57.660 on his younger peer, Egon Schiele, was immense. 00:26:58.359 --> 00:27:01.000 Klimt had been a mentor to Schiele, actively 00:27:01.000 --> 00:27:03.960 promoted him, and they collaborated shortly before 00:27:03.960 --> 00:27:06.859 Klimt's death to found the Kunsthalle in 1917. 00:27:07.869 --> 00:27:10.289 What was the goal of that? An attempt to retain 00:27:10.289 --> 00:27:13.210 local artistic talent, prevent the exodus of 00:27:13.210 --> 00:27:15.529 modernists going abroad during the war years, 00:27:15.769 --> 00:27:18.730 keep the Viennese scene vibrant. And beyond Vienna, 00:27:18.869 --> 00:27:21.190 we see his decorative style influencing international 00:27:21.190 --> 00:27:24.170 movements too. Art Nouveau, Art Deco. Indeed. 00:27:24.670 --> 00:27:27.829 His influence spread rapidly, specifically impacting 00:27:27.829 --> 00:27:29.990 the Italian liberty style you think of artists 00:27:29.990 --> 00:27:32.849 like Galileo Cini, Vittoria Zeccan. They created 00:27:32.849 --> 00:27:35.390 Klimt -inspired panels for places like the Venice 00:27:35.390 --> 00:27:38.430 Hotel Terminus. But while he was hugely influential 00:27:38.430 --> 00:27:42.069 stylistically, his exact place in the grand sweep 00:27:42.069 --> 00:27:44.650 of art history, that's still debated, isn't it? 00:27:44.710 --> 00:27:47.390 It is intensely debated sometimes. We really 00:27:47.390 --> 00:27:49.549 have to bring up that critical perspective, the 00:27:49.549 --> 00:27:51.569 one exemplified by the Frank Woodford quote. 00:27:51.690 --> 00:27:53.910 Remind us what he said. Woodford argued basically 00:27:53.910 --> 00:27:56.829 that Klimt was an important artist, a very popular 00:27:56.829 --> 00:27:58.849 artist. But in terms of the history of art, he's 00:27:58.849 --> 00:28:01.849 a very unimportant artist in a cul -de -sac. 00:28:02.309 --> 00:28:05.440 Ouch. What's the argument behind that? The argument 00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:08.200 is essentially that Klimt perfected a dying aesthetic, 00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:11.460 the secessionist art nouveau decoration, and 00:28:11.460 --> 00:28:13.900 his style didn't really open the door to subsequent 00:28:13.900 --> 00:28:17.079 radical movements like cubism or true abstraction. 00:28:17.420 --> 00:28:20.299 Not in the way Picasso or Kandinsky did. He sort 00:28:20.299 --> 00:28:22.400 of perfected something, but didn't point the 00:28:22.400 --> 00:28:24.440 way forward. But regardless of where you place 00:28:24.440 --> 00:28:27.200 him in the isism timeline, his cultural influence 00:28:27.200 --> 00:28:30.119 is just undeniable. It persists today, extends 00:28:30.119 --> 00:28:33.240 far beyond the canvas, right, into modern design 00:28:33.240 --> 00:28:35.319 fashion. That's where his popularity becomes 00:28:35.319 --> 00:28:38.519 just undeniable. Think of the 1972 stage designs 00:28:38.519 --> 00:28:40.839 for the Vienna State Opera's production of Salome 00:28:40.839 --> 00:28:43.259 directly referencing his decorative style. Or 00:28:43.259 --> 00:28:46.059 more recently, high fashion. Oh, yeah. Designers 00:28:46.059 --> 00:28:48.240 like John Galliano for Dior, Alexander McQueen. 00:28:48.660 --> 00:28:51.619 They repeatedly drew on his patterns, his gold 00:28:51.619 --> 00:28:53.859 detailing in their collections. It's instantly 00:28:53.859 --> 00:28:56.500 recognizable. And contemporary artists today 00:28:56.500 --> 00:28:59.460 are still consciously engaging with his iconography. 00:29:00.009 --> 00:29:02.750 often to make statements about race and representation, 00:29:03.130 --> 00:29:05.210 things Klimt himself never really addressed. 00:29:05.490 --> 00:29:08.170 Exactly. There's the American photographic artist 00:29:08.170 --> 00:29:11.490 Tawny Chapman, for instance. She uses gold leaf 00:29:11.490 --> 00:29:13.910 overlaid on black and brown figures in her work, 00:29:13.970 --> 00:29:16.769 and she deliberately cites Klimt's lavish portraits 00:29:16.769 --> 00:29:19.609 of predominantly white Viennese women as a point 00:29:19.609 --> 00:29:22.250 of reference, a point of dialogue. And Amy Sherald's 00:29:22.250 --> 00:29:25.150 portrait of Michelle Obama. Yes. Critics recognize 00:29:25.150 --> 00:29:27.950 the direct echo of those reformed dresses designed 00:29:27.950 --> 00:29:30.920 by Emily Floge. in the high neckline and flowing 00:29:30.920 --> 00:29:33.460 structure of Amy Sherald's 2018 portrait of the 00:29:33.460 --> 00:29:36.559 First Lady. The influence is there. But if his 00:29:36.559 --> 00:29:39.440 style defines his beauty, It really is the extraordinary 00:29:39.440 --> 00:29:42.920 commercial value intrinsically linked to the 00:29:42.920 --> 00:29:45.299 dark history of Nazi looting that defines his 00:29:45.299 --> 00:29:47.680 legacy in the 21st century. This is absolutely 00:29:47.680 --> 00:29:50.299 the crux of this deep dive. The prices his works 00:29:50.299 --> 00:29:52.720 command are just astronomical. Back in 2003, 00:29:53.000 --> 00:29:55.779 Landhaus in Addersea, a landscape, sold for over 00:29:55.779 --> 00:29:59.279 $29 million. Set a record, then. But the real 00:29:59.279 --> 00:30:01.640 watershed moment was a portrait of Adele Blockbauer 00:30:01.640 --> 00:30:05.559 I, the woman in gold. That painting, acquired 00:30:05.559 --> 00:30:07.900 for the Neue Galerie New York by Ronald Lauder 00:30:07.900 --> 00:30:12.440 in 2006 for $135 million. Which at the time was 00:30:12.440 --> 00:30:14.119 the highest price ever paid for any painting, 00:30:14.200 --> 00:30:16.900 right? Surpassing Picasso. For a moment, yes. 00:30:17.160 --> 00:30:19.380 It demonstrated that Klimt's work wasn't just 00:30:19.380 --> 00:30:21.700 fine art, it was a high -stakes asset class. 00:30:22.039 --> 00:30:25.460 Blue chip. And that trend just continues. Most 00:30:25.460 --> 00:30:29.029 recently, June 2023. Lady with a fan. His final 00:30:29.029 --> 00:30:32.589 unfinished painting from 1918 sold for UK $85 00:30:32.589 --> 00:30:36.650 .3 million. That's over US $108 million, making 00:30:36.650 --> 00:30:39.089 it the highest priced artwork ever sold at auction 00:30:39.089 --> 00:30:41.349 in Europe. These staggering figures are entirely 00:30:41.349 --> 00:30:44.589 tied to the decades long global legal battle 00:30:44.589 --> 00:30:47.329 for justice, for restitution. They really are. 00:30:47.490 --> 00:30:49.509 And the core of this legacy, the case everyone 00:30:49.509 --> 00:30:51.990 knows, is the Maria Altman case. Republic of 00:30:51.990 --> 00:30:54.640 Austria v. Altman. a legal saga that captured 00:30:54.640 --> 00:30:57.240 the world's attention, inspired films like Woman 00:30:57.240 --> 00:30:59.259 in Gold. We need to get into the detail here 00:30:59.259 --> 00:31:01.519 because it set crucial legal precedent. Okay, 00:31:01.579 --> 00:31:03.339 tell us about it. This was the Battle of Maria 00:31:03.339 --> 00:31:06.180 Altman. She was the 82 -year -old niece and heir 00:31:06.180 --> 00:31:09.799 of Ferdinand and Adele Blockbauer, and she fought 00:31:09.799 --> 00:31:12.299 the Austrian government to recover five specific 00:31:12.299 --> 00:31:15.180 Klimt paintings that had been looted by the Nazis 00:31:15.180 --> 00:31:17.859 after the Anschluss, the annexation of Austria 00:31:17.859 --> 00:31:20.519 in 1938. And these paintings were in Austria. 00:31:20.890 --> 00:31:23.410 Yes, they were considered national treasures 00:31:23.410 --> 00:31:25.890 in Austria, displayed in the Austrian gallery, 00:31:26.109 --> 00:31:28.650 and the government fiercely resisted returning 00:31:28.650 --> 00:31:31.509 them for decades. What were the main legal hurdles 00:31:31.509 --> 00:31:33.789 she had to overcome? It seems impossible to sue 00:31:33.789 --> 00:31:36.349 a foreign country. Well, the primary hurdle was 00:31:36.349 --> 00:31:38.730 exactly that, the question of sovereign immunity. 00:31:39.400 --> 00:31:41.460 Altman was living in California, so she had to 00:31:41.460 --> 00:31:43.420 sue the Republic of Austria in U .S. courts. 00:31:43.660 --> 00:31:46.440 This took years of legal maneuvering. Including 00:31:46.440 --> 00:31:49.160 a Supreme Court case. A landmark 2004 Supreme 00:31:49.160 --> 00:31:52.019 Court ruling, yes. Where the U .S. court upheld 00:31:52.019 --> 00:31:54.079 its jurisdiction under an exception to the Foreign 00:31:54.079 --> 00:31:56.559 Sovereign Immunities Act. They argued the property 00:31:56.559 --> 00:31:58.619 was taken in violation of international law, 00:31:58.839 --> 00:32:01.019 which was huge. So what happened after that? 00:32:01.359 --> 00:32:03.279 Eventually, the Austrian government agreed to 00:32:03.279 --> 00:32:06.039 binding arbitration in Vienna to avoid dragging 00:32:06.039 --> 00:32:08.779 it through U .S. courts further. And the arbitration 00:32:08.779 --> 00:32:11.480 passed the national courts. Yes. And resulted 00:32:11.480 --> 00:32:14.859 in a verdict in 2006 that Austria was legally 00:32:14.859 --> 00:32:17.519 compelled to return all five paintings to the 00:32:17.519 --> 00:32:19.880 Altman heirs. A stunning victory for Altman. 00:32:19.980 --> 00:32:22.799 All five, which included both portraits of Adele 00:32:22.799 --> 00:32:25.019 Blockbauer. Portrait of Adele Blockbauer, the 00:32:25.019 --> 00:32:26.980 first and Adele Blockbauer, the second, plus 00:32:26.980 --> 00:32:29.579 three landscapes. And the subsequent sale of 00:32:29.579 --> 00:32:32.519 these restituted works was monumental. Netted 00:32:32.519 --> 00:32:37.240 Altman and her co -heirs over $327 million. Wow. 00:32:37.819 --> 00:32:40.299 And Adele, I went to Ronald Lauder. Right, to 00:32:40.299 --> 00:32:42.380 the new gallery to remain on public view, which 00:32:42.380 --> 00:32:44.559 was Altman's wish. But the remaining four were 00:32:44.559 --> 00:32:46.559 auctioned off to maximize the financial return 00:32:46.559 --> 00:32:48.640 for the heirs. And those sales generated huge 00:32:48.640 --> 00:32:51.130 numbers themselves, didn't they? Oh, yeah. Adele 00:32:51.130 --> 00:32:54.569 Blockbauer II alone sold for $88 million. Birch 00:32:54.569 --> 00:32:58.730 Forest went for $40 .3 million. Houses in Unterach 00:32:58.730 --> 00:33:02.109 on Lake Adder sold for $31 million. These auctions 00:33:02.109 --> 00:33:03.950 really demonstrated the market's willingness 00:33:03.950 --> 00:33:06.210 to pay a premium for works carrying the moral 00:33:06.210 --> 00:33:08.730 weight of restitution. It proved that legal justice 00:33:08.730 --> 00:33:11.470 was, in a sense, financially achievable. And 00:33:11.470 --> 00:33:13.769 the Altman case, while famous, was just one example, 00:33:13.869 --> 00:33:16.509 right? This issue is much wider and continues 00:33:16.509 --> 00:33:19.289 today. We've seen ongoing restitution efforts 00:33:19.289 --> 00:33:21.970 across Europe. Absolutely. Take the case of Rose 00:33:21.970 --> 00:33:24.450 Bushes Under the Trees, painted around 1905. 00:33:24.869 --> 00:33:27.369 It was owned by Nora Stiasi, a Jewish collector 00:33:27.369 --> 00:33:29.930 tragically murdered by the Nazis. She had been 00:33:29.930 --> 00:33:32.049 forced to sell the painting below value after 00:33:32.049 --> 00:33:34.650 the Anschluss. And where did it end up? Decades 00:33:34.650 --> 00:33:36.750 later, it was discovered hanging in France's 00:33:36.750 --> 00:33:39.630 National Collection, specifically the Musée d 00:33:39.630 --> 00:33:42.910 'Orsay in Paris. After intense advocacy, the 00:33:42.910 --> 00:33:45.210 French Minister of Culture announced in 2021 00:33:45.210 --> 00:33:47.630 that the painting would finally be restituted 00:33:47.630 --> 00:33:50.450 to Stiasi's heirs. Amazing. Major move for France. 00:33:50.650 --> 00:33:53.069 And even recent market discoveries keep bringing 00:33:53.069 --> 00:33:55.849 up this historical debt. A perfect example is 00:33:55.849 --> 00:33:58.829 that 2023 agreement involving Ronald Lauder again. 00:33:58.970 --> 00:34:01.990 He agreed to both restitute and repurchase Klimt's 00:34:01.990 --> 00:34:04.230 The Black Feather hat. Which I belong to. Irene 00:34:04.230 --> 00:34:07.049 Baran before she fled the Nazis. The painting's 00:34:07.049 --> 00:34:09.510 provenance, its ownership history, was tracked 00:34:09.510 --> 00:34:11.730 through the notorious Nazi art dealer Friedrich 00:34:11.730 --> 00:34:14.789 Wels. It just shows how deeply entwined the art 00:34:14.789 --> 00:34:17.329 market remains with this network of stolen goods. 00:34:17.650 --> 00:34:19.969 And finally, there's that incredibly poignant 00:34:19.969 --> 00:34:22.949 rediscovery you mentioned. The portrait of Prince 00:34:22.949 --> 00:34:27.900 William Nill Nordei Dawona. From 1897. Yes, this 00:34:27.900 --> 00:34:30.460 is a remarkable piece. Shows a young African 00:34:30.460 --> 00:34:33.320 dignitary. It was basically lost to history after 00:34:33.320 --> 00:34:36.360 WWII. Eventually, it was tracked to the collection 00:34:36.360 --> 00:34:39.079 of a Viennese Jewish collector, Ernestine Klein, 00:34:39.400 --> 00:34:43.079 who was forced into exile in 1938. And Klein's 00:34:43.079 --> 00:34:45.440 studio. Coincidentally, had been Klimt's own 00:34:45.440 --> 00:34:48.460 former studio. The portrait recently became subject 00:34:48.460 --> 00:34:50.739 to a restitution settlement with Klein's heirs. 00:34:50.900 --> 00:34:53.539 It just underscores that every time a Klimt surfaces, 00:34:53.840 --> 00:34:55.860 whether it's famous or forgotten, it inevitably 00:34:55.860 --> 00:34:58.800 carries the weight of WWII displacement and these 00:34:58.800 --> 00:35:01.579 complex ownership battles. So Klimt's trajectory. 00:35:02.380 --> 00:35:04.639 It takes us from this academic prodigy raised 00:35:04.639 --> 00:35:06.739 in poverty through the rebellion and defiance 00:35:06.739 --> 00:35:08.800 of the secessionist years. Into the glorious 00:35:08.800 --> 00:35:10.820 sexually charged mastery of the golden phase. 00:35:11.039 --> 00:35:13.519 And finally, into this complex 21st century legacy 00:35:13.519 --> 00:35:16.500 defined by astronomical wealth, yes, but also 00:35:16.500 --> 00:35:18.820 by these enduring legal battles for moral justice. 00:35:19.139 --> 00:35:21.480 Knowing Klimt today means recognizing that his 00:35:21.480 --> 00:35:24.119 work isn't just a record of aesthetic genius, 00:35:24.360 --> 00:35:28.059 is it? It's really a powerful cultural lens focused 00:35:28.059 --> 00:35:31.260 on the entire turbulent history of his era. The 00:35:31.260 --> 00:35:33.719 glittering. peak of Fantasiak La Vienna. The 00:35:33.719 --> 00:35:35.659 political and social collapse that followed. 00:35:35.840 --> 00:35:38.420 And the history that, through decades of legal 00:35:38.420 --> 00:35:40.980 challenges, still dictates where his work resides 00:35:40.980 --> 00:35:44.039 today. It's inseparable. Absolutely inseparable. 00:35:44.260 --> 00:35:46.000 Which brings us to a final thought for you, our 00:35:46.000 --> 00:35:49.019 listeners, to consider. What's fascinating here 00:35:49.019 --> 00:35:52.599 is the intersection of morality, justice, and, 00:35:52.739 --> 00:35:56.030 well, staggering amounts of money. When you look 00:35:56.030 --> 00:35:58.190 at the hundreds of millions generated by Klemp's 00:35:58.190 --> 00:36:00.769 art post -restitution, the immense financial 00:36:00.769 --> 00:36:03.090 value placed on paintings that were violently 00:36:03.090 --> 00:36:05.690 stripped from their rightful owners, what does 00:36:05.690 --> 00:36:08.190 this contemporary astronomical price tag really 00:36:08.190 --> 00:36:11.369 say about the lingering moral and cultural debt 00:36:11.369 --> 00:36:14.869 society is still actively paying for the lives 00:36:14.869 --> 00:36:17.750 and art lost during the Nazi era? And maybe how 00:36:17.750 --> 00:36:20.420 does that sheer financial weight Now redefine 00:36:20.420 --> 00:36:22.400 the historical significance of the artwork itself. 00:36:22.780 --> 00:36:25.159 Beyond the gold leaf, beyond the initial controversy, 00:36:25.559 --> 00:36:27.619 does the price tag become part of its meaning? 00:36:27.900 --> 00:36:29.039 Something to think about.