Old Man on his Death-Bed

The portrait shows an old man on his death bed, which was an unusual depiction for Gustav Klimt. It is presumably a portrait of Hermann Flöge, the father-in-law of Klimt's brother Ernst, who had passed away earlier, and the father of Emilie Flöge whom Klimt had been friends with for many years. Hermann Flöge was the owner of a factory that produced tobacco pipes made out of a material that was popular at the time: meerschaum, a sepiolite mineral. However, he had already passed away in 1897. Why the portrait was only created three years after his death is unclear. Klimt likely painted it based on a photograph. The contrast between the precise facial features and the cloudy, blurred background parts appear to be characteristic stylistic features that can also be found in the female portraits created around the same time.