Throughout his life, Gustav Klimt enjoyed a lively exchange with many artists of various disciplines in an intertwining of professional and private relationships and friendships. He established important contacts during his studies at the Imperial-Royal School of Arts and Crafts and later through his commissions and his membership in several artists’ associations. The founding of the Vienna Secession, in particular, and its exhibition activities played a key role in the cultivation of Klimt’s national and international network.

Already during his student days, Gustav Klimt received a lot of support from his teachers, who gave him his first paid jobs assisting with their own projects. Later, Ferdinand Eitelberger and the architectural office Fellner & Helmer would procure public commissions for the “Künstler-Compagnie.” When Klimt became increasingly famous, his circle of commissioners grew to include his private sphere. Among his benefactors were mostly wealthy, often Jewish personalities from the Viennese upper class.

Vienna was one of the most important cultural and intellectual centers in Europe around 1900. In its cafés and salons, the most significant personalities on the contemporary artistic and cultural scene met to exchange ideas and to nurture and propagate modern ideologies. The intellectual and cultural environment of Modernism, with its upheavals and innovations, also had a formative influence on the oeuvre of Gustav Klimt.

Around 1900, there was a palpable atmosphere of departure all over Europe, which led to a break with conservative traditions in the arts and culture. Vienna saw the founding of numerous institutions, artists’ associations, photographers’ unions, galleries and salons. These acted as the birthplace of Modernism which, in keeping with the idea of the Gesamtkunstwerk, aimed at permeating all areas of life with art. Thus, even coffeehouses, cabarets and fashion salons became spheres of activity of the fine arts.