An exhibition in the Orangery of the Belvedere is dedicated to the fascinating dialog between Gustav Klimt's work and the art of antiquity.

Gustav Klimt was influenced by the art of the ancient world. Selected objects in the exhibition "Klimt and Antiquity. Erotic Encounters" highlight the central shift in his understanding of antiquity. While his early work focused mainly on thematic details, it was above all the spirit of antiquity that he transferred to this own stylistic idiom in the years after 1900. This development is illustrated through the comparison of Klimt's works with examples from the ancient world.

A highlight of the exhibition is the 1907 reprint of the Hetaera Dialogs of Lucian (ca. 120-185 CE) illustrated with drawings by Gustav Klimt. This extraordinary, erotic work combines the revealing drawings of Klimt with furnishings of the Wiener Werkstätte designed by Josef Hoffmann into one of the most beautiful books of the European Art Nouveau period.

Klimt and Antiquity. Erotic Encounters, 23 June - 8 October 2017
www.belvedere.at