There are artists you admire, and there are artists you fall in love with. For us, Gustav Klimt is firmly the second kind. More than a hundred years after his last brushstroke, his paintings still glow with a warmth that makes you stop, breathe and simply look.
A painter of gold and dreams
Klimt was born in 1862 near Vienna, the son of a gold engraver, so perhaps it was destiny that gold would become his signature. In 1897 he helped found the Vienna Secession, a group of artists who wanted to break free from stiff academic rules and bring beauty into every part of life. A journey to Ravenna, with its shimmering Byzantine mosaics, sparked his famous Golden Phase, when he began weaving real gold leaf into his canvases.
Ornament, everywhere
Look closely at any Klimt painting and you'll discover a whole universe of tiny patterns: spirals, circles, eyes, flowers, checkerboards and swirling lines. Faces and hands are painted softly and realistically, while robes, backgrounds and skies dissolve into pure ornament. That magical contrast between tender human emotion and glittering decoration is what makes his work feel both intimate and otherworldly. Think of the swirling branches of The Tree of Life, or the radiant Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, where a woman seems to float in a sea of gold.
The Kiss
Gustav Klimt, The Kiss (1907-1908), Belvedere, Vienna. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fallen in love with these golden lovers?
So did we. Discover our handmade jewelry inspired by Klimt, including the one-of-a-kind Lovers' Kiss pendant.
Painted in 1907-1908, The Kiss is probably Klimt's most beloved work. Two lovers kneel at the edge of a flowery meadow, wrapped together in a single golden cloak: his covered in bold rectangles, hers in soft circles and blossoms. It's a painting about that rare moment when the whole world disappears and only love remains.
Art that never fades
Klimt passed away in 1918, but his art has never really left us. His golden lovers live on in museums, in books, on posters above our desks and in the hearts of everyone who has ever stood in front of one of his paintings. Fashions come and go, but true beauty, it turns out, is immortal.
Klimt, to wear every day
His world inspired our own little tribute: handmade enamel jewelry with dreamy princesses, golden trees of life and lovers lost in a kiss. Each piece is a tiny painting you can carry with you, a bit of Klimt's gold for ordinary days. Take a look at the collection and find the piece that speaks to your heart.