Vienna: home of Klimt. And the main home for his works in the city is Belvedere. The Klimt. Inspired by van Gogh, Rodin, Matisse… exhibition at that very institution reveals more about Austria’s most famous artist.
- Explores Klimt’s evolution in the context of those who impacted it
- Around 100 works on display
- Includes art by his international influences
- Cooperation with the Van Gogh Museum
- Runs Feb 3, 2023 – May 29, 2023
- See also:
- Lower Belvedere palace info
- Art exhibitions in Vienna
Inspired by Van Gogh, Rodin, Matisse…
(Vincent van Gogh, The Plains of Auvers, 1890; photo courtesy of and © Belvedere, Wien. Reproduced with permission under the terms of Creative Commons License CC BY-SA 4.0.)
Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Who will guard the guards themselves? And if we might adapt that a little: who inspires those who inspire? An exhibition at Lower Belvedere seeks to answer that last question for Gustav Klimt.
Research by the experts at Vienna’s Belvedere and Amsterdam’s Van Gogh Museum has identified those artists and works Klimt would have encountered through travel, contemporary exhibitions, and similar.
The results combine with existing knowledge to grant us an understanding of just who (and what) impacted Klimt’s work.
Klimt. Inspired by Van Gogh, Rodin, Matisse… turns this understanding into an art exhibition, where we see direct comparisons of his paintings with works known to have affected his art and outlook.
(Gustav Klimt, Judith, 1901; press photo courtesy of and © Belvedere, Wien.)
As such, we get a triumvirate of artistic joy…
Works by Klimt, obviously.
Paintings and other items by various giants of their times and genre, like van Gogh, Monet, Whistler, Rodin, Alma-Tadema, Matisse, Macdonald Mackintosh, and others.
And…the intriguing insights that come from a dialogue between the two; a dialogue allowing us to trace Klimt’s artistic evolution and understand the context of that change.
So we discover, for example, how Alma-Tadema’s detailed renditions of classical antiquity relate to Klimt’s early portrait work and his Burgtheater ceiling paintings.
I’ll add more details once I have the chance to view the exhibition, which arrives from a 3-month residency at the Van Gogh Museum.
(Gustav Klimt, Avenue in the Park of Schloss Kammer, 1912; press photo courtesy of and © Belvedere, Wien)
Dates, tickets and tips
Enjoy Klimt and contemporaries from February 3rd, 2023 to May 29th, 2023. Any ticket to or including Lower Belvedere allows access to the exhibition.
Now, if you’re in Vienna for this Klimt exhibition, you might want to explore some other locations relevant to his art or life.
For example, walk through Lower Belvedere palace and into the adjoining orangery (included in a Lower Belvedere ticket) for the exhibition commemorating 300 years of the institution’s history.
The exhibition featured at least one Klimt painting last time I checked, as well as a handwritten letter from him about The Kiss. On that subject, cross the gardens to Upper Belvedere for their permanent exhibition featuring that very painting and other Klimt masterpieces.
And another good place to see his works is the permanent exhibition of the Leopold Museum.
How to get there
Check the directions article for reaching Lower Belvedere.
Address: Rennweg 6, 1030 Vienna