Pair of secessionist reliefs Georg Klimt ca. 1902

Georg was the brother of Gustav and Ernst Klimt. After completing his apprenticeship, he studied at the
Vienna School of Arts and Crafts. From 1897 on, Klimt showed his works, which were based on his own and
other artists’ designs, in arts and crafts exhibitions at the Austrian Museum of Art and Industry. He designed
several Secessionist relief panels of the highest quality, as well as the bronze doors for the main entrance of
the Secession, built according to plans by Olbrich in 1898. The VIIIth Secession Exhibition in 1900 offered
Klimt the opportunity to familiarize himself with furniture and arts and crafts objects designed by the
Scottish artists Charles Rennie Mackintosh and his wife. He was particularly impressed by their chased
objects, and subsequently created several exceptional reliefs. Although they reflect the influence of these
renowned artists, they were executed in Klimt’s own elegant Viennese style. Many of Georg Klimt’s reliefs
were commissioned as decorative panels and were incorporated into the furniture of the best Viennese
cabinetmakers of their time, such as Michael Niedermoser, Fritz Nagel, or August Ungethüm.