Vienna's sumptuous Belvedere Palace is presenting two fine exhibitions on the art of Gustav Klimt, one of the masters of the Viennese Secession.

The Belvedere occupies a central place in the history of Viennese modernism, exhibiting Austrian art in an international context for over a century. The majority of works by Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), including The Kiss and Judith, as well as those by Egon Schiele (1890-1918) and Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980), form part of the permanent collection of this Vienna museum, one of the most important in Austria.
In 2025, this Baroque architectural gem will be presenting two exhibitions, divided between its two main areas, the Upper Belvedere and the Lower Belvedere, focusing on the work of arguably the most eminent artist of Art Nouveau.

GOLD, COLOR AND IA

The first exhibition, "Pigment & Pixel", sheds new light on the Austrian painter's creative method and artistic practice. Curator Franz Smola uses new technology to help us rediscover his art. Starting with the hypothetical reconstruction of the colors of some of his paintings, representing his "allegories of philosophy, medicine and jurisprudence".
These monumental canvases were originally commissioned for the ceiling of the great hall of the University of Vienna, but were destroyed in a fire in the twilight of the Second World War. Google Arts & Culture, in collaboration with the Belvedere, has reconstructed their colors using artificial intelligence, based on black and white photographs.

The exhibition also looks back at his specific technique of applying gold leaf, with the emblematic Judith I (Judith and Holofernes) from 1901 as an example, imbued with eroticism, danger and sanctity, one of the first works to incorporate this safe-haven value.

HIS LATEST ALLEGORY

The second exhibition, "In-sight", focuses on the history and influence of the unfinished allegorical work The Bride, painted between 1917 and 1918, before the artist's unexpected and premature death. While it was owned by the most important woman in his life, Emilie Flöge (1874-1952), his muse and heiress, it was later acquired by his first illegitimate son, Gustav Ucicky. Today, it has belonged to the Klimt Foundation since 2013 and has been on loan to the Belvedere since 2014.

In this exhibition, the curator highlights the famous image of photographer Moriz Nähr, who captured The Bride and The Lady with the Fan in his last studio in the heart of his villa in Vienna's Hietzing district. This creative space becomes the focal point of the exhibition, evoking important encounters and friendships with fellow artists Egon Schiele and Felix Albrecht Harta, patrons Eugenia Primavesi and Serena Lederer, and Japanese art connoisseur Kijiro Ohta.

Also included are his pencil sketches, which put the painting into context, and, above all, recent X-rays taken of the painting, the results of which will be on display at the opening.

"GUSTAV KLIMT - PIGMENT & PIXEL: REDISCOVERING ART THROUGH TECHNOLOGY"
BELVEDERE LOWER
RENNWEG 6, VIENNA (AUSTRIA)
FEBRUARY 20 TO SEPTEMBER 7, 2025
BELVEDERE.AT

"IN-SIGHT: GUSTAV KLIMT. THE BRIDE"
BELVÉDÈRE SUPÉRIEUR
PRINZ EUGEN-STRASSE 27, VIENNA (AUSTRIA)
MAY 15 - OCTOBER 5, 2025