Gustav Klimt and Richard Strauss

Audio Jan. 13, 2022

A field filled with colorful trees — Gustav Klimt; Orchard, 1907; Carnegie Museum of Art: Patrons Art Fund

“I'm a painter who paints day in day out, from morning till evening—figure pictures and landscapes, more rarely portraits.”

Gustav Klimt, from his autobiography On Fear and Self Portraits, 1900

Carnegie Museum of Art is delighted to bring you artwork from our collection whose stories and themes connect with the sounds you will hear from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. We hope you enjoy experiencing this work of art alongside the performance.

Vienna was at a cultural zenith in 1900 when artist Gustav Klimt penned this quote. Visual artists defined the modern era in Austria with the formation of the Vienna Secession. Musicians, including Richard Strauss, embraced the new artistic radicalism and crossed creative paths with their contemporaries. Strauss saw his opera Salome in the visual form of Klimt’s Judith II, while Klimt, whose mother was an amateur lyricist, often turned to music for inspiration.

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