Literacy Research Paper: Gustav KlimtGustav Klimt was born in Baumgarten near Vienna in Austria-Hungary on July 14, 1862 (Eva Di Stefano p. 20) and died February 6, 1918. Gustav was the second of seven children, including three boys and four girls. Klimt's mother, Anna Klimt aspired to become a musical performer (Lisa Florman). Gustav's father, Ernst Klimt, originally from Bohemia, was a gold engraver. Gustav was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the major members of the Viennese Secession movement. Gustav was known primarily for his paintings, murals, sketches and other objects. Klimt's main subject was the female body, in which he really liked to work (Eva Di Stefano p. 20). Gustav attended the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts where he lived in poverty (Eva Di Stefano p. 20). Gustav studied architectural painting until 1883. He admired Hans Makart, Vienna's most historic painter of the time. In 1877, his brother Ernst Jr, who, like his father (Eva Di Stefano p. 20), would become an engraver, also enrolled at the school. The two brothers and their friend Franz Matasch began working together, and in 1880 they received many commissions as a team which they called "Company of Artists" (Eva Di Stefano p. 22). This group also helped their teacher paint murals at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, which I find very helpful and feel like it helped Gustav become a better person. Klimt began his professional career painting interior murals and ceilings in large public buildings in the RingstaBe, which included a successful series of “Allegories and Emblems” (Gustav Klimt p. 35). In 1888, Klimt received the Golden Order of Merit from Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria...... middle of paper...... 1918, Klimt suffered a stroke while he was at home which left him paralyzed on his right side (Eva Di Stefano p. 158). He was admitted to the Fürth sanatorium and). Later transferred to the Allgemeine Krankenhaus (General Hospital), Klimt died in the hospital on the morning of February 6 from a chest infection as well as the flu epidemic. Many of Klimt's paintings remained unfinished. Klimt's paintings have fetched some of the highest prices. recorded for individual works of art. Klimt shaped his era as well as the current era by being different and not trying to please everyone with his paintings, but simply doing what he loved the most. Klimt reflected the future more than his own. era. Klimt was a man who dared to be different and I feel like that's how the most successful artists are now. That being said, I feel like Klimt paved the way for many artists today..