Klimt as a High Earner

Nowadays, Klimt's works are sold at auction for large sums of money, sometimes extremely large. Some of his paintings that have changed hands in recent years reached exorbitant sums. Among them were "Adele Bloch–Bauer I," and the famous "Golden Adele," for which, in 2006, the unbelievable sum of 135 million US dollars was paid. At the time, this was one of the highest prices ever paid for a painting. In the years following this sale, Klimt's prices rose again rapidly. The second portrait of Adele Bloch–Bauer, which Klimt painted in 1912, was auctioned in 2007 for 88 million US dollars. When it was re-auctioned in 2017, it reached twice the price at 150 million US dollars.

Astonishingly, Klimt's contemporaries also bought his paintings for sums that far exceeded the original prices for his works. For example, his original clients spent around 8,000 to 10,000 crowns for portraits directly from the master's own hands. That was a huge sum in those days, considering that the average annual salary of, for example, a school teacher, was only about 1,200 crowns. And at the time you could even acquire a stately villa for around 40,000 crowns, all included. Klimt's famous painting "The Kiss" was even more expensive. After its completion, the picture was purchased immediately by the K. u. K. Kunstministerium (Ministry of Art) for around 25,000 crowns, which, as mentioned above, was more than half the price of a stately villa.

Klimt was undoubtedly one of the highest-earning artists of his time. Nevertheless, he did not set great store by showing off his fortune. He lived with his mother and unmarried sisters in a simple, middle-class rented apartment until he died.

Even the studio in which he worked was rented and relatively modest. It was distinctly different from the stately, prestigious studios that other well-paid painters afforded themselves at this time. Klimt spent much of his income on paying the great number of models, who were always in his studio. The master also had to pay for the upkeep of his children and their mothers.

The only luxury that Klimt afforded himself was a collection of East Asian arts and crafts, precious textiles, kimonos, graphics, and porcelain, a small number of which has survived to this day. Nevertheless, there was a considerable amount of cash remaining at his death, which was divided among his heirs—his sisters and Emilie Flöge.