From 21 February to 7 September 2025, the Belvedere Museum in Vienna presents the exhibition “Gustav Klimt: Pigment & Pixel”

Source: Belvedere · Image: Gustav Klimt, “Water Serpents I” (detail), 1904 (minor additions in 1907)

Gustav Klimt is Austria’s most famous artist and his work is appreciated by millions of people worldwide. Yet to this day his iconic images conceal many secrets.

How did Klimt work on his art? Which materials did he use? How did he devise and compose particular paintings? The exhibition allows visitors a glimpse beneath the surface of Klimt’s colorful world. Modern imaging technologies such as infrared reflectography and X-radiography allow new insights into Klimt’s working methods. On occasion these have revealed surprising divergences between the preliminary drawing and the final work. 

The exhibition also explores how Klimt made his legendary gold paintings. Which methods did he employ to apply gold to the canvas? It will include a documentation of the techniques and materials Klimt used to create The Kiss.  Another highlight of the show is the result of a long collaboration between the Belvedere and Google Arts & Culture that started in 2019: the hypothetical reconstruction of Klimt’s Faculty Paintings in color. These monumental canvases depicting allegories of Philosophy, Medicine, and Jurisprudence were commissioned for the ceiling of the Great Hall at the University of Vienna. However, they met with a torrent of criticism and were consequently never displayed at their intended location. During World War II they were placed in storage with other art treasures at Schloss Immendorf. The castle was set on fire in the last days of the war; Gustav Klimt’s Faculty Paintings were destroyed in the blaze. Today their appearance is known only from black-and-white photographs. With the help of artificial intelligence it has been possible to recreate the paintings in colors that are probably very close to the original impression. These reconstructions will be shown in the exhibition in the paintings’ original dimensions.