Portrait of Sonja Knips

Date: 1889
Medium: oil on canvas
Location: Belvedere, Vienna, Austria
Dimensions: 145 × 146 cm

In the winter of 1898, the second exhibition of the Vienna Art Nouveau was held, at which the painter Gustav Klimt presented a portrait of a lady from high society. It was Sonja Knips who supported art and artists with great enthusiasm. Sonja not only supported artists financially, but her home was also a meeting place where art and its new trends could be discussed.

In this portrait, Sonja is dressed in a light pink dress and stares straight ahead. However, her thoughts are somewhere else. This absent facial expression would become a hallmark of the femmes fatales in Klimt's paintings. This work is considered to be one of his most important portraits, leading to a turning point in his painting career.

Klimt painted picture Portrait of Sonja Knips in 1889. Prevailing color of this fine art print is dark and its shape is square. Original size is 145 × 146 cm. This art piece is located in Belvedere, Vienna, Austria. This image is printed on demand - you can choose material, size and finishing.

Gustav Klimt (1862-1918). As a painter, Klimt represents the best period of Vienna – a time when the works of Sigmund Freud or Mahler were developing, and Vienna was at the very least the Central European centre of culture and education. Klimt’s work combines symbolism and Byzantine features that create the undertone of his Art Nouveau style. Klimt’s images have a special, even anxious, atmosphere that often shows the Freudian idea of ​​erotica in any human movement and action. Klimt paints two-dimensionally, with intense colour while at the same time very gently and with refined dignity. Among Klimt’s famous works are the Water Snakes - two women with stylized, interwoven bodies that evoke the surreal world of fantasy and sensuality. Another masterpiece is Danae, a work inspired by Greek mythology, depicting a girl seized by Zeus, who was turned into a golden rain (Danae later gave birth to Perseus). His paintings often aroused passions and public protests, not only for their content but also for the innovative painting methods - eg. The Girlfriends, an image of two women at a romantic meeting.