Gustav Klimt, Belvedere Palace

Belvedere Palace, a photo by nathan.langholz on Flickr.

So I know this blog has turned into a lot of art talk, but whatever that's what I'm seeing a lot of. I was reading about Andy Warhol after I visited the Kunsthalle Wien the other day when I came across an Economist article from 2009 about how only a handful of artists have sold a single painting for over $100 million dollars, with Andy Warhol being a new inclusion. Surprisingly, to me at least, included in this list was Gustav Klimt who, to be honest, I had never heard of until I came to Vienna. Wikipedia cites that one of his paintings sold for $135 MILLION dollars in 2006. That's ridiculous. One of the main museums here in Vienna, the Belvedere Palace, houses the largest gallery of his paintings as he is from here, so I decided to go to see what all the fuss is about.

Gustav Klimt seemed to use a variety of drawing, collage, and painting techniques resulting in some interesting art. Most of his subjects included the woman form. The centerpiece of the collection was called The Kiss was a 6 foot by 6 foot piece that is of a man and woman embracing in a kiss. There are all sorts of different golds and definitely catches your eye when you enter the room.

In terms of sites to visit in Vienna the Belvedere may be the most "all purpose" place to visit. It is another fascinating example of a beautiful royal palace, there is a large garden area, a view of the St. Stehpen's Cathedral and the city center, along with a diverse art museum (including a couple Monets and Van Goghs) capped by the Klimt collection. Its closer to the city center than the Schonbrunn Palace and not quite the time commitment, although not quite impressive size wise. The art is probably more representative of historical Austrian art than the Albertina and the palace is a little more impressive. I would definitely suggest the Belvedere if making a short visit to Vienna.