Gustav Klimt 1862-1918: The World in Female Form - Basic Art Series 2.0
Gilles Néret, Gustav Klimt

Revised edition

Hardback (25 Jul 2015)


Categories: Art Books Art History Art History: c 1900 - Art History: From c 1960 Paintings Individual Artists, Art Monographs Antiques & Collectables


The unfading popularity of Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) attests not only to the particular appeal of his luxuriant painting but also to the universal themes with which he worked: love, feminine beauty, aging, and death.

The son of a goldsmith, Klimt created surfaces of ornate and jewel-like luminosity which show the influence of both Egyptian and Japanese art. Through paintings, murals, and friezes, his work is defined by radiant color, fluid lines, floral elements, and mosaic-like patterning.

With subjects ranging from sensuality and desire to anxiety and despair, all this iridescence is also suffused with feeling. Klimts numerous images of women, characterized by curvaceous forms, tender flesh, red lips, and flushed cheeks, were particularly charged with passion, at a time when such frank eroticism was still taboo in Viennese upper-middle-class society.

This book presents a selection of Klimts work, introducing his pictorial world of decoration and desire, as well as his influence on artists to come.


About the series

Born back in 1985, the Basic Art Series has evolved into the best-selling art book collection ever published. Each book in TASCHENs Basic Art series features:

a detailed chronological summary of the life and oeuvre of the artist, covering his or her cultural and historical importance

a concise biography

approximately 100 illustrations with explanatory captions


Product details

Format Hardback | 96 pages
Dimensions 210 x 260 x 12.7mm | 616g
Publication date 16 Mar 2022
Publisher Taschen GmbH
Publication City/Country Cologne, Germany
Language English
Illustrations note illustrations
ISBN10 3836558076
ISBN13 9783836558075
Bestsellers rank 24,852