Serena Pulitzer Lederer

In 1897, Gustav Klimt became a hero to Vienna's artistic society when he cofounded "Wiener Sezession" (Vienna Secession), a group dedicated to raising the city's profile in the art world. The group was committed to exhibiting the work of unconventional artists, bringing the finest art and artists to Vienna and showcasing its members' work. Some four years later, Klimt was commissioned by industrialist August Lederer to paint his wife. As in many of Klimt's portraits, he captures the beauty and character of his subject's face and surrounds it with a decorative, almost surreal environment. In this one, Serena Pulitzer Lederer, Austrian beauty and star of Viennese society, gazes contentedly from a dreamy world of billowing white chiffon, an angel in the clouds.