Gustav Klimt landscape paintings. Gustav Klimt: paintings, biography of the artist

One of the most famous painters of the past is Gustav Klimt, whose paintings are in great demand today. Unfortunately, there are not so many of his works, and all of them have long found their place in best collections peace. But when a miracle happens and his paintings are put up for auction, their value is fabulous.

the beginning of time

The man whose name is familiar to every intellectual today was born near Austrian capital, in the town of Baumgarten. Gustav, who was born on July 14, 1862, was the second child. His father was an engraver and jeweler, so he gave all his many children their first lessons in the craft. The family lived poorly, but at the age of fourteen young talent enters the arts and crafts school. There, Gustav Klimt, whose paintings amaze everyone without exception, studied with such luminaries as Ferdinand Laufberger and Julius Victor Berger. A few years later, he entered the same institution younger brother artist - Ernst. Together they painted portraits of noble citizens from photographs and sold them for six guilders. This was their first independent income.

First steps in art

In 1879, the artist Gustav Klimt, his brother and Franz von Mach designed the courtyard of the Vienna Kunsthistorisches Museum, after which they received their first serious commission. From the palace of Stureny ("Four Allegories") and the baths in Carlsbad, a special style emerges that will distinguish the paintings of Gustav Klimt from the works of other painters. So the trio of artists stops working together, and they each set off on their own voyage through life.

Finding your own style

The artist Klimt almost immediately received recognition from a demanding public. From the hands of Emperor Franz Joseph he receives the Golden Cross for services to art after completing work at the Burgtheater. Therefore, you send the master on a trip to the Old World, during which he visits Munich and Venice. This trip gave him a lot of impressions and inspiration for further work.

Having finished painting the main staircase capital museum art history, Gustav moves away from the academic style of drawing. His special style of performance has already acquired its finished form. In subsequent years, the artist Gustav Klimt, whose paintings every collector dreams of owning, became a member of the “Union fine arts" But in 1892 they are waiting for him heavy losses: first the father dies, and then the brother Ernst. In 1894, Klimt, together with his long-time partner Franz Matsch, decorated the University of Vienna; before that, Gustav worked on the halls of the Hungarian Esterházy Castle.

Recognition during life

Work on the interiors of premises, in particular the execution of allegorical images, of the three faculties “Philosophy”, “Jurisprudence” and “Medicine” pushed the artist to paint canvases. He founded the Secession in Vienna and became its president, painted his first landscapes, and became interested in expressionism. Gustav Klimt's paintings of that period are distinguished by his love for mosaics and ornamental depictions of forms. This distinguishing feature works of the master in the future.

Gustav Klimt, whose paintings were awarded a gold medal at world exhibition in Paris (canvas “Philosophy”), creates Beethoven frescoes. This work of his, completed in 1902, was lively discussed by the public, and Rodin admired it. The master goes on a trip to Italy, becomes in demand, and people listen to him. In 1908, the artist organized his own exhibition, where he presented sixteen paintings. Two of them were immediately purchased by reputable institutions - the Gallery contemporary art in Rome and the Austrian State Gallery.

In Paris, which Klimt visited in 1909, he became acquainted with the works of Toulouse Lautrec, Van Gogh, Gauguin, Matisse, Munch, Bonnart. A year later, he took part in the ninth painting, “Death and Life,” which was highly praised at the 1911 World Exhibition in Rome. After it, the artist again goes on a trip to Europe.

The last years of the life of the great painter

Despite the public's love, Gustav Klimt's works were criticized by the Expressionists. After the death of his mother in 1915, the artist increasingly chose dark colors palettes. He continues to take part in the most prestigious exhibitions in the world, becomes an honorary member of the Academy of Arts in Munich and Vienna, and paints masterpiece paintings. The artist died of a heart attack on February 6, 1918, leaving a large number unfinished work. After him, other great painters of that time also passed away.

“The Kiss” by Gustav Klimt is the artist’s most famous painting

This work is rightfully considered one of the best among the master’s heritage. It was created in 1907 and immediately after its presentation was purchased by the government of Austria-Hungary. Emotional, dazzlingly vivid “The Kiss” by Gustav Klimt is recognized as the most in an expressive way in the history of twentieth-century painting. What's special about it?

There are different types of patterns on the canvas: scatterings of variegated flowers, spreading curls, a chess motif of black, white and green rectangles, ribbon arabesques, twisting spirals. An abstraction made from fragments of naturalistically interpreted figures and fancy ornaments looks simply luxurious against a golden background. The couple, which is depicted in the center, hugged and merged into passionate kiss. The mosaic clothes of the lovers only enhance the effect of intense passions, created by the master with the help of decorative details and their deep contrast with naturalistic elements. The girl's face, arms and legs are painted very realistically. But the body parts are surrounded, and in some places completely covered, by planes with an abstract motif that matches the colors on the ground and the texture of the fabric.

The painting has the artist’s favorite format - square. Gustav ignores the horizon and depth of space, pushes reality and the current time into the background. Thus, the kiss of a boy and a girl in love takes on a universal scale.

Symbolism of "The Kiss"

Gustav Klimt, whose paintings always have a meaning, also used symbolism in “The Kiss.” So, at first glance, the rectangles depicted on a man’s clothes have only decorative meaning. But these are phallic symbols that represent masculinity. They merge with feminine, encrypted in the motif on the woman’s robe. These are spirals, circles and ovals, which can be considered artistic signs female genitalia. This union is harmonious and energetic, gives birth to life and continues it.

The canvas “Kiss” is completely unusual and shocking. Like all previous works, it had its fans and fierce opponents. But it still means highest point the so-called golden period of the artist’s creativity. The painting became the emblem of the Viennese Secession, captivating with its golden radiance, muted eroticism (after all, only the hands, feet and faces of the characters appeared open to the eye), and obvious chastity.

Cherchez la femme, or Look for a woman

Gustav Klimt's favorite motif was women and their bodies. He loved to paint scenes from mythology, biblical characters, Olympian goddesses, nymphs and ordinary girls who became unearthly. Surrounded by golden light (many of the genius’s works had just such a chic background), they seemed to be the ideal of beauty, beautiful and seductive at the same time. As a true artist, he idolized the fair sex, its divine awe, sensuality, mysticism and femininity.

He painted naked women on his canvases and only then dressed their bodies in fabulous, precious clothes. Mysterious flicker precious stones, flowing hair, the glow of silky skin and the finest gossamer dress created a temptation, covering her half-naked body.

Fatal ladies of genius

The artist of the turn of the century absorbed all the controversial opinions of that era. He was looking for an ideal and contemporary woman and depicted her in his paintings. He not only drew real people, such as, for example, Sonya Knips, whose portrait simultaneously expresses lightness, innocence, anxiety and thoughtfulness. Every lady depicted by Gustav is a fatal one. In the film “Love,” the heroine’s face froze in sweet ecstasy, but background the shadows deepen. After all, old age and death await the young man and girl. A striking example such beauties are the following paintings: “Mermaid”, “ gold fish", both versions of "Judith", "Water Serpents". The work “Three Ages of a Woman” is also filled with deep philosophy, which depicts a little girl, a woman in the prime of life and beauty, and an old woman.

It is interesting that the master was not married, although he had numerous novels. He probably never found his ideal...

Gustav Klimt is an Austrian painter, recognized throughout the world as a master of depicting the female body. At one time the artist won scandalous fame works “imbued” with undisguised eroticism.

For the late 18th and early 19th centuries, paintings of such explicit content seemed too bold and shocked art connoisseurs accustomed to the works of masters classical school. But shockingness did not become an obstacle to the fame that Klimt was treated to in abundance during his lifetime. Representatives of European Art Nouveau consider Klimt the founder of the movement. Today, the master’s paintings are sold for incredible amounts of money.

Childhood and youth

Gustav Klimt is an Austrian by nationality, but Czech blood also flowed in his veins from his father, a jeweler, whose childhood and youth were spent in Bohemia. In her youth, the mother of the future painter also lived by art - she dreamed of becoming a musician. Interrupted plans the large family: Gustav is the second oldest of the seven Klimt offspring, 3 sons and 4 daughters.

The brightest representative of Art Nouveau was born in the summer of 1862 in Penzing, one of the 23 districts of Vienna. Grew up in Baumgarten County. Penzing is famous for its picturesque nature, because it is located on the spur of the Eastern Alps, and one third of the area is covered by the Vienna Woods.

His father's work, a gold engraver, did not bring in income that would allow the family to live in abundance. But all the children of Ernest and Anna Klimt, when they grew up, chose art. Sons became artists, daughters made careers in the fashion industry.

First steps creative biography little Gustav were made under the supervision of his father, who taught his son to mix paints and apply strokes to the canvas. At 14 years old young artist became a student at the art and craft school in Vienna. A year later in educational institution, operating at the Austrian Museum, Gustav’s brother, Ernst, also entered.

Klimt chose architectural painting as a specialization. The young man’s idol during his studies was Hans Makart, who worked in the historical genre. Surprisingly, in student years The future star of modernism differed from his progressive comrades in that he respected the conservative ambushes of academic education.

Painting

In the early 1880s, brothers Gustav and Ernst, together with their friend Franz Macham, painted theaters in the Austro-Hungarian province with frescoes. In the mid-1880s, young artists decorated the court theater and the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, for which Franz Joseph awarded the most talented of the trio, Gustav Klimt, the Golden Cross. The imperial award, received at the age of 26, opened the path to glory for him. The painter became an honorary member of the universities of Vienna and Munich.

In the early 1890s, Gustav Klimt's father and brother died one after another. The grief from the loss of loved ones left an imprint on the master’s work - he soon developed an individual style that made the paintings recognizable. At this tragic time, Klimt met his muse Emilia Flöge, with whom he did not part until the end of his life.

In the second half of the 1890s, the future founder of Art Nouveau led a group of artists called the Vienna Secession. Young Austrian rebels rejected the framework of academic painting, surprising and shocking society with too bold works.

Klimt's first works, which brought him scandalous fame, were design works. In 1894, he received an order for 3 paintings for the ceiling of the assembly hall of the University of Vienna, which he completed 6 years later. The presentation of the paintings “Philosophy”, “Medicine” and “Jurisprudence” to the public turned into a scandal.

Outraged conservative citizens called the work pornography and called for the painter to be imprisoned. Gustav Klimt no longer took government orders, but he did not give up painting nude women. At the same time, the eroticism and sensuality in his canvases did not cross the fine line, beyond which they would turn into vulgarity and vulgarity.

The final 1890s are called the “golden period” in the work of the Art Nouveau master. For works of this time, Klimt used gold leaf, the most expensive and famous canvases of the late 1890s. The famous “Kiss” is a striking example of Art Nouveau, reminiscent of the beauty of Venetian mosaics. The image of a painting is often used to decorate champagne glasses.

In 1899, Gustav Klimt again caused shock by presenting the public with a painting called “The Naked Truth.” The symbolic naked red-haired girl with a mirror in her hand personified this very “ the naked truth" The painter responded to the barrage of criticism, as expected from a brilliant brawler, new picture with the same shocking “character”. Called “Goldfish”, it showed the public the “fifth point” of that same beauty with fiery hair and curvaceous.

Gustav Klimt was the darling of fortune. He was extolled during his lifetime. The fashion master was bombarded with orders, which were generously paid for. He could choose topics and subjects that seemed interesting. But everywhere, women's bodies and overt eroticism were an obligatory element.

The most famous paintings of the “golden period” of the Austrian Art Nouveau guru are, in addition to “The Kiss” and “The Naked Truth”, “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer”, “Water Snakes”, “Hope”, “The Three Ages of a Woman” and “Tree” love." Last job– a fresco painted in 1905-1909 can be seen in the Stoclet Palace in Brussels. The fresco has other names - “Tree of Knowledge” and “Tree of Life”.

Gustav Klimt's legacy also includes landscapes painted in his “signature” painting style. For them, the master took square canvases, believing that this form “expands” the space. In the last five years of his life, Klimt painted only landscapes. The most famous are “Apple Tree” and “Birch Grove”.

Personal life

Legends were made about the modernist's temperament. Klimt's contemporaries whispered that Gustav had affairs with almost every model. The master is credited with fathering from 14 to 40 children born to ladies who commissioned portraits, models and simply “priestesses of love” to whom he paid money. They say, ladies noble families lined up and were ready to do anything just to get their hands on a precious portrait by Gustav Klimt himself.

To be fair, it must be said that there was another opinion: the artist was not interested in carnal intimacy, he was a supporter of platonic relationships. But this version seems doubtful when Klimt’s biographers talk about shameful, but very common in late XIX- the beginning of the 20th century, an illness suffered by the artist. Gustav was given syphilis by a girl of easy virtue. The fact is played out in artistic painting"Klimt", which premiered in 2006.

No matter how many women were in Gustav’s bed, the main muse, who remained in the status of a bride, turned out to be Emilia Flöge, a talented fashion designer and owner of a fashion house. He asked to call her when he was dying. Their relationship lasted 27 years, but was never crowned with marriage and offspring.

Connoisseurs of Klimt's work noticed that the master liked two types of women, whom he painted all his life. These are lush red-haired beauties (such is “Danae”) and brunettes with subtle features faces and figures of boys (“Adele Bloch-Bauer”).

Death

The famous Austrian painter passed away in February 1918. The cause of death of 55-year-old Klimt was pneumonia, which turned out to be fatal after suffering a stroke.

The artist's resting place was the Vienna Hietzing Cemetery. Gustav Klimt left dozens of paintings he started unfinished.

Russian connoisseurs of Art Nouveau painting in October 2017 received unique opportunity get acquainted with the work of Gustav Klimt. Exhibition graphic works two famous representatives Art Nouveau - Gustav Klimt and - took place at the Pushkin Museum. .

Works

1899-1907 – “Philosophy”
1899-1907 – “Medicine”
1899-1907 – “Jurisprudence”
1901-1902 – “Goldfish”
1903 – “Birch Grove”
1903 – “Hope”
1904-1907 – “Water Snakes”
1905 – “The Three Ages of Woman”
1905-1909 – “Tree of Love”
1906 – “Adele Bloch-Bauer”
1907–08 – “The Kiss”
1907-1908 – “Danae”
1912 – “Apple Tree I”
1913 – “Innocence”
1917 – “Adam and Eve”

Gustav Klimt (German: Gustav Klimt; July 14, 1862, Baumgarten, Austrian Empire - February 6, 1918, Vienna, Austria-Hungary) - widely known Austrian artist, founder of modernism in Austrian painting. The main subject of his painting was female body, and most of his works are distinguished by overt eroticism.

Gustav Klimt was born in the Vienna suburb of Baumgarten in the family of the engraver and jeweler Ernest Klimt, the second of seven children - three boys and four girls. Klimt's father was a native of Bohemia and a gold engraver; his mother, Anna Klimt, née Finster, tried but failed to become a musician. Most Klimt spent his childhood in poverty, since the economic situation in the country was difficult, and his parents did not have a permanent job. All three of Ernest Klimt's sons became artists.

At first, Gustav learned to draw from his father, and then, from 1876, at the Vienna Arts and Crafts School at the Austrian Museum of Art and Industry (teachers Karl Grachovina, Ludwig Minnigerode, Michael Rieser), which his brother Ernst also enrolled in in 1877. Gustav Klimt studied there until 1883 and specialized in architectural painting. His model during this period was the artist historical genre Hans Makart. Unlike many other young artists, Klimt agreed with the principles of a conservative academic education. From 1880, Gustav, his brother Ernst and their friend the artist Franz Mach worked together, decorating theaters in Reichenberg, Rijeka and Karlovy Vary (cities in the Austro-Hungarian province) with frescoes. In 1885 they worked on the design of the Vienna building of the Burgtheater and the Kunsthistorisches Museum. In 1888, Klimt received an award from Emperor Franz Joseph - the “Golden Cross” for his services to art. He also became an honorary member of the Universities of Munich and Vienna.

In 1892, Ernst's father and brother died, and Gustav became financially responsible for the family. In addition, these events left their mark on his artistic views, and he soon began to develop deeply individual style. In the early 1890s, the artist met Emilia Flöge, who, despite his relationships with other women, remained his companion until the end of his days.

Klimt in 1897 became one of the founders and president of the Vienna Secession and the magazine "Ver Sacrum" (Rite of Spring), published by the group. He remained with the group until 1908. Initially, the goals of the Secession were to organize exhibitions for young artists writing in an unusual style, to attract best works foreign artists to Vienna, and popularization of the works of group members by publishing a magazine. The group did not have a manifesto and did not try to develop uniform style: naturalists, realists and symbolists coexisted in it. The government supported their efforts and leased them a piece of city land to build exhibition hall. The symbol of the group was Pallas Athena, a symbol of justice, wisdom and art.

From the early 1890s, Klimt took annual holidays with the Flöge family to Lake Attersee and painted many landscapes there. The landscape genre was the only non-figurative painting that interested Klimt. Klimt's landscapes are similar in style to his depictions of figures and contain the same design elements. The landscapes of Attersee are so successfully embedded in the plane of the canvas that it is sometimes assumed that Klimt viewed them through a telescope.

In 1894, Klimt received an order for creation of three paintings to decorate the ceiling of the large assembly hall of the main building of the University of Vienna on the Ringstrasse. The allegorical paintings "Philosophy", "Medicine" and "Jurisprudence", known as "faculty" paintings, were completed by 1900. They were sharply criticized for their subject matter, which was called “pornographic”. Klimt transformed traditional allegories and symbols into new language, with a greater emphasis on eroticism, and therefore more annoying to conservative viewers. Dissatisfaction was expressed by all circles - political, aesthetic and religious. As a result, the paintings were not exhibited in the university's main building. This was the last public commission that the artist agreed to fulfill. After this, the paintings were purchased by philanthropist August Lederer. In the 1930s, Nazi authorities nationalized Lederer's collection of Klimt's works. At the end of the war these works were moved to Immerhof Palace, but in 1945 Allied forces entered the area and the retreating SS troops set the castle on fire. The paintings were lost. All that is available today are scattered preliminary sketches, black and white photographs three paintings Bad quality and one color photograph of Hygeia from Medicine. Its sparkling gold and red colors give an idea of how powerful these three lost works of art were.

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Gustav Klimt (1862 - 1918) - Austrian artist. Gustav Klimt is one of the most prominent representatives Art Nouveau style

BIOGRAPHY OF GUSTAV KLIMT

Born on the outskirts of Vienna in the family of an artist-engraver. Graduated Vienna School decorative arts. Early works The artist's works consisted mainly of large frescoes for theaters and were painted in a naturalistic style. In the paintings depicting allegorical figures, executed by Klimt in 1890-1891 on the vaults of the grand staircase of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the features that became fundamental in his work - a clear silhouette and a penchant for ornamentalism - first appear. After 1898, Gustav Klimt's works took on a more decorative, symbolic aspect.

Gustav Klimt was the leader of the Viennese avant-garde at the turn of the century. Being primarily a decorative artist, Klimt led the Viennese community of innovative artists “Secession” - a protest movement against aesthetic conservatism and moralizing previous generation.

The best pictures Klimt are considered more late portraits the artist, with their flat, unshaded surfaces, transparent, mosaic colors and shapes, and sinuous, ornate lines and patterns.

Klimt's paintings combine two opposing forces; on the one hand, there is a thirst for absolute freedom in the depiction of objects, which leads to a play of ornamental forms. These paintings by the artist are in fact symbolic and should be considered in the context of symbolism as an expression of an unattainable world that stands above time and reality. On the other hand, this is the power of perception of nature and nature, the influence of which softens the pomp of ornamentation in the paintings of Gustav Klimt.

THE WORK OF GUSTAV KLIMT

Among the artist's most delightful works are the panels for the Burgtheater in Vienna (1888), and a series of mosaic frescoes in the Pallas Stoclet, a rich private mansion in Brussels. By the end of his life in 1917, Klimt had won full official recognition, becoming an honorary professor at the Vienna and Munich Academies of Fine Arts.

Painting by Gustav Klimt “The Kiss”. In a field of flowers, a silhouette of a kissing couple emerges from ornaments and abstract shapes. The color of the painting is dominated by a golden tone interspersed with bright spots of wildflowers and rich patterns of clothing. Erotic character They give the scene sensual lines, lush ornamentation and spicy flavor - a symbol of luxury and decadence. This style is often called Art Nouveau. Klimt painted a large number of portraits, mostly of women, as well as mythological and allegorical compositions. Sketches of objects applied arts and mosaics by Gustav Klimt enjoyed huge success, however, the wall paintings created by the artist for the University of Vienna caused a scandal and were considered art critics early twentieth century "pornographic". Gustav Klimt died in 1918.

Secession (German Sezession, from Latin secessio - departure, separation), the name of associations of artists in Munich, Vienna, Berlin, who rejected academic doctrines and acted as heralds of the Art Nouveau style. The Vienna Secession arose in 1897 and united the artists of the Austrian Art Nouveau - “Sezessionsstil” - around the magazine Ver Sacrum, founded in 1898. The magazine was also the organ of the Austrian literary symbolism(Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Rainer Maria Rilke). The association was led by the painter Gustav Klimt. Characteristic Features This style for painting was mosaic multicolor and sophisticated ornamentation, for graphics - geometric clarity of the design with its overall free decorativeness, for architecture - rhythmic orderliness of divisions, laconic decor, rationality of compositional and constructive solutions. The masters of this style (Joseph Maria Olbrich, Otto Wagner, Joseph Hofmann, Karl Moser and other artists) were distinguished by their attraction to rectilinear ornamentation, which retained geometric rigidity even in the most complex combinations. In this regard, the “secession style” is sometimes called the “square style” (Quadratstill).

One hundred thirty-five million dollars was paid at auction in 2006 for “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer,” painted by Gustav Klimt in 1907.

In the opening and closing compositions of the anime series Mamoru Kanbe “Elfen Lied”, the main characters of the series appear before the viewer in an interpreted form famous paintings Gustav Klimt: “The Kiss”, “Embrace”, “The Three Ages of a Woman”, “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I”, “Water Serpents I”, “Water Serpents II”, “Danae”.

Three Ages of Female Water Snakes Danae

Klimt Gustav is a famous Austrian painter. One of the most prominent representatives of the Art Nouveau style. Born on the outskirts of Vienna in the family of an artist-engraver. Graduated from the Vienna School of Decorative Arts. The artist's early works consisted mainly of large frescoes for theaters and were painted in a naturalistic style. In the paintings depicting allegorical figures, executed by Klimt in 1890-1891 on the vaults of the grand staircase of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the features that became fundamental in his work - a clear silhouette and a penchant for ornamentalism - first appear. After 1898, Gustav Klimt's works took on a more decorative, symbolic aspect.

Gustav Klimt was the leader of the Viennese avant-garde at the turn of the century. Being primarily a decorative artist, Klimt led the Viennese community of innovative artists "Secession" - a protest movement against the aesthetic conservatism and moralizing of the previous generation. Klimt's best paintings are considered to be the artist's later portraits, with their flat, unshaded surfaces, transparent, mosaic-like colors and shapes, and sinuous, ornate lines and patterns. Klimt's paintings combine two opposing forces; on the one hand, there is a thirst for absolute freedom in the depiction of objects, which leads to a play of ornamental forms. These paintings by the artist are in fact symbolic and should be considered in the context of symbolism as an expression of an unattainable world that stands above time and reality. On the other hand, this is the power of perception of nature and nature, the influence of which softens the pomp of ornamentation in the paintings of Gustav Klimt. Among the artist's most delightful works are the panels for the "Burgtheater" in Vienna (1888), and a series of mosaic frescoes in the Pallas Stoclet, a rich private mansion in Brussels. By the end of his life in 1917, Klimt had won full official recognition, becoming an honorary professor at the Vienna and Munich Academies of Fine Arts

Painting by Gustav Klimt “The Kiss”. In a field of flowers, a silhouette of a kissing couple emerges from ornaments and abstract shapes. The color of the painting is dominated by a golden tone interspersed with bright spots of wildflowers and rich patterns of clothing. The erotic character is given to the scene by sensual lines, lush ornamentation and spicy coloring - a symbol of luxury and decadence. This style is often called Art Nouveau. Klimt painted a large number of portraits, mostly of women, as well as mythological and allegorical compositions. Gustav Klimt's designs for applied art and mosaics were a huge success, but the artist's wall paintings for the University of Vienna caused a scandal and were considered "pornographic" by art critics of the early twentieth century. Gustav Klimt died in 1918.

Secession (German Sezession, from Latin secessio - departure, separation), the name of associations of artists in Munich, Vienna, Berlin, who rejected academic doctrines and acted as heralds of the Art Nouveau style. The Vienna Secession arose in 1897 and united the artists of the Austrian Art Nouveau - “Sezessionsstil” - around the magazine Ver Sacrum, founded in 1898. The magazine was also the organ of Austrian literary symbolism (Hugo von Hofmannsthal, Rainer Maria Rilke). The association was led by the painter Gustav Klimt. The characteristic features of this style for painting were mosaic multicolor and sophisticated ornamentation, for graphics - geometric clarity of the design with its overall free decorativeness, for architecture - rhythmic orderliness of divisions, laconic decor, rationality of compositional and constructive solutions. The masters of this style (Joseph Maria Olbrich, Otto Wagner, Joseph Hofmann, Karl Moser and other artists) were distinguished by their attraction to rectilinear ornamentation, which retained geometric rigidity even in the most complex combinations. In this regard, the “secession style” is sometimes called the “square style” (Quadratstill).