Gold, Flesh & Scandal

Welcome to Gustav Klimt: Gold, Flesh and Scandal, a virtual exhibition exploring the art of Gustav Klimt — a world of luminous gold, intimate portraits, quiet landscapes, and provocative visions of human life. Discover the beauty and tension within his work, where ornament meets the body and sensuality sits alongside questions of identity, mortality, and desire.

Set within a virtual space surrounded by windmills and a beautiful blue sky dotted with soft clouds, the exhibition invites you to explore Klimt’s artistic world at your own pace.

The exhibition presents five main art sections: Portraits, Landscapes, Golden Period, Faculty Paintings, and Unfinished Works. Two smaller sections introduce Klimt through biography and photographs, while a dedicated area brings his preparatory sketches into focus. Together, they offer a layered portrait of the artist, his working process, and the imagery that continues to fascinate audiences.

Biography and Photographs

Get to know the artist behind the paintings. Two smaller sections offer an introduction to Klimt’s life through biographical texts and photographs, providing context for the works on display. These glimpses of the man behind the celebrated images create a more personal encounter with his art.

Preparatory Sketches

Before the painted surface came the drawn line. This section explores Klimt’s preparatory sketches, inviting you to follow his attention to pose, gesture, and the human figure. Seen alongside his paintings, these studies offer insight into how he explored ideas and developed his compositions.

Portraits

Klimt’s portraits bring individual presence into conversation with elaborate decorative worlds. Faces, hands, and gestures emerge from richly patterned surfaces, drawing attention to both the sitter and the way they are presented. This section invites close looking at the relationship between identity, fashion, intimacy, and ornament.

Landscapes

The Landscapes section reveals a quieter side of Klimt’s art. Trees, gardens, and water become intricate arrangements of colour and texture, with natural forms creating rhythms across the canvas. These paintings offer space to pause and discover how the artist’s fascination with pattern extended into his observations of the natural world.

Golden Period

Gold becomes an expressive part of the image in this section, surrounding figures with luminous surfaces and intricate ornament. Bodies and patterns appear to merge, giving intimate subjects a monumental, sometimes almost sacred presence. Explore the interplay of sensuality, symbolism, and decoration that makes these works so distinctive.

Faculty Paintings

The Faculty Paintings section explores some of Klimt’s most challenging artistic ideas. Centred on Philosophy, Medicine, and Jurisprudence, these compositions bring the human body into unsettling visions of knowledge, suffering, and authority. They place the exhibition’s theme of scandal in focus, opening questions about what art is expected to celebrate — and what happens when an artist challenges those expectations.

Unfinished Works

Unfinished paintings offer a different kind of encounter with Klimt. Areas of developed detail sit beside passages still taking shape, making aspects of his working process visible. This section invites you to look at the relationship between drawing, colour, and ornament, and to consider works whose final form remains open to the imagination.

Your Own Path Through Klimt’s World

Take your time, follow your curiosity, and linger with the works that draw you in. Available in VR, on desktop, and on mobile, the exhibition lets you move freely between sections and approach each work for a closer look. Beyond the art, windmills and a clear blue sky create a calm, open setting in which to pause and reflect.

You can make the visit your own or share it with others. Meet friends inside the exhibition, exchange impressions with fellow visitors, or explore as a school, class, or group. Looking together can reveal unexpected details and different ways of seeing the same work.

Let the Stories Guide You

For a more relaxed visit, choose the automated guided tour and let the exhibition unfold around you. Follow a curated route through Klimt’s world as the exhibition texts are read aloud, connecting the works with their stories and themes. With navigation taken care of, you can give your attention to the art.

Gold Is Only the Beginning

• Discover five thematic sections spanning portraits, landscapes, the Golden Period, Faculty Paintings, and unfinished works.
• Get closer to Klimt through biographical texts, photographs, and preparatory sketches.
• Explore the beauty, sensuality, and controversy that run through his art.
• Wander freely or follow a narrated, automated tour.
• Experience the exhibition in VR, on desktop, or on mobile — on your own or in company.

From the stillness of his landscapes to the intimacy of his portraits and the provocative imagery of his Faculty Paintings, Klimt’s art offers much more than a glittering surface. Gustav Klimt: Gold, Flesh and Scandal brings these different worlds together and invites you to discover what holds your gaze.

Step into the exhibition, exclusively at thevimu.com.