The secrets of the unconscious and the labyrinths of the mind

The Vienna of the Belle Epoque - of Sigmund Freud, Otto Wagner, Mahler and Schönberg - has prompted the admiration of the whole world for the quality and diversity of its cultural and artistic life. And Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) was without doubt its defining and most fascinating painter.

As a highly gifted student he decorated the walls of the Burgtheater, the staircase of the Art History Museum, the University of Vienna and the Stoclet Palace. As an art revolutionary he headed the Secession of 1897, reacting against official world of academia and bourgeois conservatism.

Cloaked in richly woven patterns of gold or silver, in mosaics, exotic designs, fairy-tale illustrations of birds and animals, ornamental or floral motifs, mystical whirls or kaleidoscopes of radiant colours, Klimt's seductive portrayals of nudity plumb the secrets of the unconscious and the labyrinths of the mind. He confronted the public with his own unwavering sensuality and the omnipresence of Eros in the workings of the world, creating the true erotic prelude to modern sexuality - of which Expressionism and Surrealism were to make such arresting use.

Images included:

The Kiss, 1907/08

Schloss Kammer on the Attersee I, c. 1908

The Girlfriends, 1916/17

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, 1907

The Maiden, 1913

Judith I, 1901

Farm Garden, 1905/06

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II, 1912

Farm Garden with Sunflowers, c. 1905

Danae, 1907/08

Portrait of Margaret Stonborough-Wittgenstein, 1905

Fulfilment, working design for Stoclet Frieze, c. 1905-1909

Beech Forest I, 1902

Tree of life, working design for Stoclet Frieze, c. 1905-1909

About the Series:

TASCHEN portfolios feature high quality prints that beg to be framed. Tucked in each portfolio are 14 large-format reproductions, each with a brief description. Guaranteed to brighten any day, they also make great gifts for art lovers!