Gustav Klimt Oil Painting Reproductions

Gustav Klimt was an Austrian Symbolist painter and a leading figure of the Vienna Secession, famous for combining portraiture, symbolism, intricate decorative patterns and gold leaf. His Golden Phase produced some of the most recognizable paintings of the early 20th century, including The Kiss and Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, and his paintings form an important part of our Gold Leaf Art catalog.

Klimt's art extends far beyond his famous gold paintings. His portraits, allegorical subjects and richly colored landscapes reveal a much broader range of techniques, from precise geometric ornament to densely painted gardens, forests and scenes around Lake Attersee.

We have been creating Gustav Klimt reproductions since 1996. Each painting is assigned to a professional artist whose skills are suited to the techniques and details of the original. Paintings such as The Kiss are assigned to artists with specific experience in Klimt's decorative techniques and use of gold.

Our Klimt reproductions are available in a wide range of sizes, always maintaining the original painting's proportions. If the Gustav Klimt painting you are looking for is not currently in our catalog, we will source a suitable reference image and add it online with available sizes and prices.

How Did Gustav Klimt Develop His Distinctive Painting Style?

Gustav Klimt developed his distinctive painting style by combining Symbolism and portraiture with decorative art and influences from Byzantine mosaics. As a founding member and first president of the Vienna Secession, he rejected the conservative traditions of academic painting and became a leading figure in Vienna's modern art movement.

His Golden Phase marked the most recognizable stage of this development. During a visit to Ravenna, Italy, Klimt saw the Byzantine mosaics of San Vitale, whose luminous surfaces influenced his growing use of gold and silver leaf. Paintings such as Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I and The Kiss brought these influences into a distinctly modern style.

Klimt's portraits often combine carefully observed faces and hands with flatter areas of ornament, allowing clothing and backgrounds to merge visually with the surrounding design. His landscapes developed along a different path. Gardens, forests and scenes around Lake Attersee became increasingly dense compositions built from closely arranged areas of color, with trees, vegetation or water often extending across most of the canvas.

What Defines Gustav Klimt's Most Famous Paintings?

Gustav Klimt's most famous paintings reveal the remarkable range of his work. The Kiss, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, The Tree of Life and Water Serpents II include some of his best-known portraits, Symbolist subjects and decorative compositions, alongside landscapes filled with color and detail.

The Kiss, 1908–1909

Gold, scale and geometric pattern distinguish The Kiss, the painting most closely associated with Klimt's Golden Phase. The original measures 180 × 180 cm (70.9 × 70.9 in) and is in the Belvedere collection in Vienna.

At almost six feet square, the original has a physical presence that is easily lost when The Kiss is viewed only as a small image. The faces and hands remain clearly defined against the surrounding gold, while contrasting geometric forms help distinguish the two figures and their clothing.

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, 1907

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, often called the Woman in Gold, places a naturalistically painted portrait within an extraordinarily detailed setting of gold, silver and ornament. The original measures 138 × 138 cm (54.3 × 54.3 in) and is in the Neue Galerie in New York.

Adele's face and hands stand out against the gold and intricate decoration surrounding her. Look more closely and you can see eyes, spirals, squares and other shapes woven into her dress and the background, giving the painting much of its extraordinary detail.

The Tree of Life and the Stoclet Frieze

The Tree of Life is instantly recognizable for its spiraling branches, geometric shapes and gold decoration. It was originally created as part of the Stoclet Frieze for the dining room of the Palais Stoclet in Brussels, rather than as an individual painting on canvas.

Klimt designed the frieze to work with the architecture and decoration of the room. His designs were realized as mosaics using luxurious materials including enamel, mother-of-pearl and gold leaf, turning the dining-room walls into an important part of the interior.

Water Serpents II, 1904–1907

The long horizontal shape of Water Serpents II immediately sets it apart from Klimt's famous square paintings. Intertwined female figures stretch across the canvas among flowers, flowing lines and rich colors, creating one of his most distinctive Symbolist paintings.

The privately owned original measures approximately 80 × 145 cm (31.5 × 57 in). Those proportions are fundamental to the composition and should be preserved when choosing the size of a hand-painted reproduction.

Klimt's Landscape Paintings

Klimt's landscapes look very different from the gold paintings for which he is best known. Birch Forest, The Park, Roses Under the Trees and his paintings around Lake Attersee are filled with trees, flowers and foliage, often covering almost the entire canvas with color.

Many of Klimt's landscapes are square or nearly square, with very little empty space. Trees, leaves, flowers and reflections are built from hundreds of small areas of color, but when viewed from a distance they come together to form the complete landscape.

Where Are Gustav Klimt's Original Paintings?

Many of Gustav Klimt's most important original paintings are in Vienna. The Belvedere has the world's largest collection of Klimt paintings, including The Kiss. The Leopold Museum also has an important Klimt collection, while Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I is in the Neue Galerie in New York.

The history of some Klimt paintings was dramatically changed by the Nazi annexation of Austria in 1938. Paintings owned by Jewish families were seized, sold or dispersed, and several later became the subject of major restitution claims.

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I became the subject of one of the world's best-known art restitution cases. The painting was seized from the Bloch-Bauer family during the Nazi period and, after a lengthy legal battle led by Adele's niece Maria Altmann, was returned to the family's heirs in 2006. It was later acquired by the Neue Galerie in New York.

How Do Our Artists Recreate Gustav Klimt's Paintings?

Our artists recreate Gustav Klimt's paintings using techniques suited to the individual work. His gold paintings require careful attention to decorative and metallic details, while his landscapes depend more heavily on layered color and brushwork.

For paintings such as The Kiss and Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, our artists first establish the figures and overall composition before building the surrounding decoration. Gold and metallic details are then carefully applied to recreate the changing appearance of the original as light moves across the surface.

Klimt's landscapes are built up through numerous individual marks and closely worked areas of paint. The Park, Roses Under the Trees and Italian Garden Landscape contain hundreds of individual brushstrokes and areas of color. Our artists build these gradually, while maintaining the larger shapes, depth and structure of the original composition.

One of our customers, Wolfgang in Germany, recently ordered a reproduction of Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I. After receiving and framing his painting, he told us how impressed he was by the vibrancy of the colors and particularly by the way the gold changes under different lighting conditions. You can see his finished painting and review on our Reviews & Testimonials page.

Each Gustav Klimt reproduction is painted entirely by hand in oils on canvas. We review the painting throughout its creation, checking the composition, color, detail and overall appearance before carrying out a final quality-control inspection when it is complete.

Why Buy a Hand-Painted Gustav Klimt Reproduction?

A hand-painted Gustav Klimt reproduction is especially suited to paintings where color, texture and decorative detail are such an important part of the original. Painted individually in oils on canvas, it recreates these qualities through real paint and brushwork rather than reproducing them as a flat printed image.

Our Gustav Klimt paintings are available in a wide range of sizes, including large-scale reproductions. We always maintain the proportions of the original painting, from the square format of The Kiss to the long horizontal shape of Water Serpents II. If you are unsure which size will work best for your wall, we are happy to advise you before you order.

Before your painting is shipped, we send you a photograph of the completed reproduction for approval. You can request changes at this stage if there is anything you would like us to adjust.

We have been creating hand-painted oil paintings on canvas since 1996 and ship worldwide. Every Gustav Klimt reproduction includes free worldwide shipping and our 45-day guarantee. If you need help choosing a Klimt painting or finding a particular painting, please get in touch with us.