Symbolic meaning of Gustav Klimt pictures

An artwork carries traces from the life of the artist who created it. The artist reflects the historical events he experienced, the social arena, society's culture and his own belief into the artwork. The discoveries that happened in the late XIX. and early XX. century, and historical and social developments encouraged artists to set sail to different pursuits and find new initiatives. Advancements such as industrialization, invention of cameras and motion picture projectors, Sigmund Freud's innovative theories on psychoanalysis, reshaping of the map of Europe after wars, fast international transportation and communication, artists' growing interest in Far Eastern arts as a result of Japanese estamps getting widespread in Europe, and migration from rural to urban areas lead to the emergence of various art trends. Among these are Art Nouveau, i.e. Arts and Crafts, Venice Secession, and Jugendstil. One of the founders and pioneers of Art Nouveau trend is the Austrian artist Gustav Klimt. Art Nouveau trend is considered as decorative. Thus, there are decorative elements in Gustav Klimt's paintings. The points of origin of these elements and the source of the artist's idea of using gold color is the Byzantine mosaic art. The artist visits Ravenna in the north of Italy in the early XX century. After seeing the Byzantine mosaics in San Vitale Church, he then begins to reflect the effects of this journey in his works. This study titled as "The Effect of Byzantine Art Tradition on Gustav Klimt's Paintings" investigates in what ways Byzantine mosaics effected Gustav Klimt's art and how they are reflected in his artworks. Key Words: Art Nouveau, Byzantine, gold, Klimt, mosaic, Painting, Theodora.