Klimt Georg

1867 – Vienna – 1931

Arts and crafts designer

Georg was brother to both Gustav and Ernst Klimt. After completing an apprenticeship, he attended the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts. He showed his work in arts and crafts exhibitions at the Austrian Museum for Arts and Crafts from 1897 on. Most of it was executed to specified designs. From 1901 to 1922, Klimt taught at the Vienna Art School for Women and Girls. He designed a number of Secessionist plaquettes of the highest quality as well as the bronze portal to the Secession, built in 1898 from plans by Olbrich. At the VIII^th Secession exhibition in 1900, Klimt had the opportunity of seeing furniture and arts and crafts objects by the Scottish artists Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife for the first time. He was impressed, especially by the chased work, and, as a result, he created a number of exceptional reliefs, which exhibit the influence of these important models but were of course executed in Klimt's own elegant Viennese way.

Ref.: Thieme/Becker, Allgemeines Lexikon der bildenden Künstler, vol. XX, p. 503 f.