Gustav Klimt was an Austrian symbolist artist, whose primary subject was the female body. His paintings, murals, and sketches are marked by a sensual eroticism, which is especially apparent in his pencil drawings. He was Vienna's most famous advocator of Art Nouveau, or, as the style was identified in Germany, "youth style". He is remembered as one of the famous decorative artists of the 20 century, and he also created one of the century's most important examples of erotic art. Primarily flourishing as a conservative academic painter, his run into with more modern trends in European art encouraged him to build up his own free and frequently out of this world style. Drawings played a major role in Gustav Klimt's artistic development. From sketches and preparations for oil paintings, to erotic drawings and portraits, the present book illustrates the full range and depth of Klimt's abilities as a draughtsman. Klimt's talent and brilliance as a draughtsman, however, was widely recognized only after Klimt's death. During his lifetime, he hardly sold a drawing nor did he exhibit them.
