Inspired by history, Gustav Klimt created uniquely original portraits and beautiful decorations, full of fantasy and symbolism.

At the end of the 19th century he developed a completely new way of painting that united natural details with abstract, colourful and tessellated patterns.

During his lifetime, Klimt was controversial but popular. Years after he was gone, his works and incomparable style inspired the FREYWILLE artists to dedicate a collection to this artist.

Hommage à Gustav Klimt pays tribute to the master of decorative art while remaining closely related to his hometown of Vienna, and to his movement, Viennese Art Nouveau.

Lush images, wonderful colours and lots of gold—with all of this, FREYWILLE’s artists did not have difficulty finding inspiration for their Hommage a Gustav Klimt designs. Their design Inspired by the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer shows the typical decorative elements and playful shapes favoured by Klimt. And his famous painting Hoffnung II (Hope II) served as inspiration for the FREYWILLE design of the same name—a stunning creation which combines bright colours, swirling shapes and fascinating gold.

The elegant FREYWILLE design Nixe is dedicated to the painting Wasserschlangen I (Watersnakes I),which features two dreamy nymphs. Here, gold surrounds islands of colour in a high-shine finish; spirals in subtle colours and bright gold rise like tendrils. FREYWILLE’s artists took this image a little further with Nixe Aqua, in which they depicted this fantastic design using blues, turquoise and violet. The result is magnificent.

The Ultimate Kiss, inspired by the painting The Kiss, is a pure homage to love and an overwhelming optical feast of five different types of gold, beautifully reflecting Klimt’s “Golden Period”. A fascinating and captivating artistic depiction of love, illustrating the deep connection between female and male pole through the use of sensuous opposed colours and ornaments.

Gustav Klimt was born in Baumgarten, near Vienna, in 1862. His father was an engraver, his mother was a singer, and artistic tendencies were encouraged. Gustav studied architectural painting at the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts, where he readily accepted conservative training. He never turned his back on the old forms; throughout his life, he constantly borrowed from mythology to inform and shape his work. The result was a form of symbolism never seen before; by the end of the 1900s, he had developed a completely new way of painting that united natural details with abstract, colourful and tessellated patterns.

Klimt became known for his paintings, murals and beautiful objets d'art. If his style was unusual, his subject matter also raised eyebrows - Klimt saw nothing wrong in depicting sexuality and the female body became his primary subject. He also became known for using golf leaf, a practice he fully developed after being inspired during a trip to Italy. By 1909, he had received enormous recognition for ceiling frescos and wall paintings in Vienna’s Burgtheater, in the city’s Kunsthistorisches Museum and the University of Vienna. In 1910, the Venice Biennale purchased his painted ‘Judith II’, or ‘Salome’, and his international reputation was set.

In the early 1890s, Klimt met the fashion designer Emilie Louise Flöge who remained his companion for the rest of this life. She was the model for many of his figures and his masterpiece ‘The Kiss’ is thought to be the image of them together, real or imagined. When Klimt was finally felled by a stroke, in 1918, his last words were ‘Get Emilie’.