Apprenticeship of a Genius
Hans Makart, the most important painter of the Vienna Ringstrassen Era, invited the student Klimt in 1879 to participate in the legendary gala parade on the occasion of the silver anniversary of Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Elisabeth ("Sisi").
Today, one can see nine wonderful design sketches, created by Gustav Klimt from 1905 to 1909 for the mosaic frieze at the Brussels Palais Stoclet. The Palais Stoclet is considered the most important work by the art nouveau architect Josef Hoffmann. Together with a number of Viennese art nouveau artists and craftsmen of the Wiener Werkstätte, Hoffmann created this unique work of art from 1905 to 1911 as a commission by Adolphe Stoclet.
The MAK provides fascinating insights into the wealth of ideas and forms as well as the esthetic power of Viennese art nouveau and Art Deco. Since 1955, the museum has owned the archives of the Wiener Werkstätte and continuously exhibits furniture, metal and leather works, fashion and tapestries, books, ceramics, glass as well as objects of daily life by such artists as Adolf Loos, Josef Hoffmann, Koloman Moser (nur ein N, auch im Deutschen) and Dagobert Peche. At the MAK Shop, you can buy decorative reproductions of Klimt’s sketches for the Stoclet Frieze.
Other stations of the Klimt Walk:
