Mada Primavesi

Gustav Klimt was born near Vienna in what was then Austria-Hungary. He was the second of seven children born to a mother who had unrealized ambitions as a musical performer and a father who made a living as a gold engraver. His father's work had a profound influence on Gustav's work, particularly his "Golden Phase", so-called because many of his paintings included the use of gold leaf. In the portrait above, Klimt captures the piercing gaze and willful character of Mada Primavesi at age nine. The subject would later describe herself as "an independent, assertive young girl", qualities that any viewer of Klimt's painting would easily ascertain for themselves. This motif would become central to much of Klimt's most celebrated work: humanized, revealing portraitures gazing back at the viewer from ornate canvasses that displayed Klimt's love of costume, interior decoration (particularly Art Nouveau) and ornamentation.