Adam and Eve – Works – Sammlung Online

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The image shows a nude woman with long, blonde hair in an upright position. She has her head slightly tilted back and looks directly out of the picture. In the background, there is a dark shape that resembles a blurred, humanoid outline. The woman stands on a flat surface adorned with various floral motifs and a textured, busy fabric pattern. The overall depiction has a sketch-like quality and is rendered in a style reminiscent of the Art Nouveau movement.

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Belvedere, Oberes Belvedere, 1. Obergeschoß (Ost), Raum NO3
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Adam and Eve
Date1916 - 1918

Künstler*in Gustav Klimt (1862 Wien – 1918 Wien)

ULAN

Object typePainting
MediumOil on canvas (unfinished)
Dimensions
173 × 60 cm
SignatureUnsigniert
Inventory number4402
Locations Belvedere, Upper Belvedere, 1. Floor (east), Room NO3
Klimt rarely engaged with biblical subjects during his career. One of his last works, unfinished at his death, shows the first humans, Adam and Eve. He was not interested in the more traditional depiction of the Fall, however, instead focusing on the figure of Eve as the quintessential female. Adam has closed his eyes, intoxicated with love, as he tilts his head and nestles tenderly against Eve. But Eve is looking straight at us. The anemones on the ground are emblems of fertility; the leopard skin, meanwhile, was a symbol in ancient Greece of unbridled desire. In Klimt’s interpretation, then, it is Eve—and not the snake—who is the temptress.