Tobias G. Natter worked at the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere in Vienna for fifteen years. From 2001–2002 he was curator of the Neue Galerie in New York. From 2006 to 2011 he directed the Vorarlberg Museum in Bregenz and was responsible for the museum’s new premises and the reorganization of the collection. From 2011 to 2013 he was director of the Leopold Museum in Vienna. His extensive publications and his conception and organization of exhibitions on the theme of “Vienna around 1900” have made him an internationally acknowledged expert on Viennese art at the turn of the century. In 2014 he founded Natter Fine Art, which focuses on the development and implementation of exhibitions and on research.

The countless events being held to celebrate the 150th anniversary of his birth make a clear statement to the enduring appreciation for the work of Gustav Klimt. Not that it takes such a special occasion for the press and the public to start talking about Klimt. More than two hundred articles about the artist appeared online in August 2011 alone, in comparison with barely seventy on Rembrandt within the same period. This media publicity set editor Tobias G. Natter thinking about the value of compiling the present book. During his lifetime, Klimt was a controversial star whose works made passions run high; he stood for Modernism but he also embodied tradition. His pictures polarized and divided the art-loving world. Journalists and general public alike were split over the question: For or against Klimt? The present publication therefore places particular emphasis upon the voices of Klimt's contemporaries via a series of essays examining reactions to his work throughout his career. Subjects range from Klimt's portrayal of women to his adoption of landscape painting in the second half of his life. The cliche that Gustav Klimt was a man of few words who rarely put pen to paper is vehemently dispelled: no less than 179 letters, cards, writings and other documents are included in this monograph. This wealth of archival material, assembled here for the first time on such a scale, represents a major contribution to Klimt scholarship. Defining features of this edition: Catalog of Klimt's complete paintings All known letter correspondence Featuring new photographs of the Stoclet Frieze commissioned exclusively for this book