New Delhi: A painting of a couple kissing is the theme of the doodle on the Google home page on Saturday. The Google doodle commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of the Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimt is a reproduction of his most famous work - 'The Kiss'. Some of Gustav Klimt's paintings rank amongst the most expensive in the world.
'The Kiss' is a 1907-08 oil and gold leaf on canvas painting that many believe to be Gustav Klimt's only self-portrait.
Klimt born on July 14, 1862 in Vienna was the son of a goldsmith and spent much of his childhood in poverty. He trained at the Vienna School of Decorative Arts. He had a liking for gold, silver and marble in his creations but not all his patrons could afford his expensive creations.
Not only was Gustav Klimt's art radical and occasionally controversial, he was also a marketing wizard. He allowed others to produce copies of his work, thereby increasing his reach and impact.
Klimt was reputed to have many lovers and one of them was Emilie Floege, a designer. Her work is believed to have been depicted in many of Klimt's works including 'The Kiss'.
Gustav Klimt is also known for his erotic paintings of nude women. Quite like fellow Austrian Sigmund Freud, Gustav Klimt brought sexuality into the public sphere. He was once forced to take down a particularly controversial painting that showed a naked pregnant woman.
He died in Vienna on February 6, 1918 after contracting Spanish flu during the 1918 flu pandemic.
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