Over a century after his death, the Viennese artist Gustav Klimt (1862–1918) continues to impress with his unabashed eroticism, dazzling surfaces, and artistic experimentation. This monographic volume brings together all of Klimt's major works accompanied by authorized historical art commentary and privileged access to the artist’s archive. With top-quality illustrations, including new photos of the famous Stoclet Frieze, the book follows Klimt through his leading role in the Secessionist art movement of 1897, his candid portrayal of the female body, and his "golden phase," when gold leaf provided a luminous hue and texture to beloved works such as The Kiss and Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, also known as Woman in Gold. Through luminous pages and carefully curated details, the monograph tracks the repertoire of Japanese, Byzantine, and allegorical motifs that inspired Klimt’s flat perspectives, symbolic vocabulary, and mosaic textures. Drawing on contemporary critics and voices, the book examines the artist’s polarized reception by the art world as well as his own stylistic journey. From landscapes to erotic works and the controversial ceiling of the University of Vienna's Great Hall, we see how Klimt's blend of tradition and daring divided the press and the public—condemned by some as a pornographer, praised by others as a modern master.