Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele: 1918 Centenary

Austrian artists Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele were born almost 30 years apart, yet their works overlapped during a time of drastic change in their country. Their paintings represent the “fertile creativity” leading up to the downfall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and thus the overturning of Habsburg rule following World War I. Klimt was a Symbolist painter and a prominent member of the Vienna Secession movement, while Schiele was his protégé and an early Expressionist. Both men are known for their erotic depictions of females, often with raw sexual themes.