
by Gustav Klimt, 1915
Gustav Klimt worked on Death and Life from 1910 until 1916, reworking it several times despite winning a gold medal at the 1911 Rome exhibition. The composition divides into two halves. On the left, a skeletal figure wrapped in a cloak patterned with black crosses grips a club. On the right, a tangle of human bodies represents the full cycle of existence: babies, young lovers, mothers, elderly women, all intertwined.
Originally titled simply "Death," Klimt expanded the concept as he revised it. He repainted the gold background with bluish-gray, added more female figures to the Life group, and gave Death direct eye contact with the living. At 180 by 200 centimeters, it's the second-largest surviving painting from his career.
Klimt described this as his most important figurative work. It hangs at the Leopold Museum in Vienna, a fitting home given the city's role in his artistic development. The painting bridges his decorative Golden Period with his later, more expressionistic style.
Other masterpieces from the Symbolism movement

James Ensor
Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp, Antwerp

Léon Spilliaert, 1908
Mu.ZEE, Ostend

Léon Spilliaert
Private Collection, Unknown

Akseli Gallen-Kallela
Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki, Helsinki

Akseli Gallen-Kallela
Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki, Helsinki

Akseli Gallen-Kallela
Gösta Serlachius Fine Arts Foundation, Mänttä, Mänttä

Akseli Gallen-Kallela
Private Collection, Unknown

James Ensor, 1889
Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium, Brussels
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