Editing Gustav Klimt (section)

===Early life===

Gustav Klimt was born in [[Baumgarten, Vienna|Baumgarten]], near [[Vienna]] in the [[Austrian Empire]] on 14 July 1862. He was the second of seven children: three boys and four girls. His mother, Anna Klimt (''née'' Finster), had an unrealized ambition to be a musical performer. His father, Ernst Klimt the Elder, was a gold [[engraver]] formerly from a peasant family in [[Bohemia]].{{Sfn|Fliedl|1994|p=29}}{{Sfn | Sabarsky | 1983 | p = 7}} All three of their sons, including Klimt's younger brothers [[Ernst Klimt|Ernst]] and {{Interlanguage link|Georg Klimt|lt=Georg|de}}, displayed artistic talent early on. Klimt's siblings occasionally acted as models for his early works.{{Sfn|Bäumer|1986|p=23}}

Klimt's father often struggled to find work and Klimt lived in [[poverty]] while growing up. Between 1862 and 1884 the family had no fewer than 5 different addresses, forced to move in search of cheaper accommodation. The family's struggles worsened in 1874 when five-year-old Anna died after a long illness. Around the same time, Klara, the eldest child, became [[mentally disturbed]] and obsessed with religion. She never recovered, and their mother is believed to have suffered frequent, deep [[Depression (mood)|depression]]s.{{Sfn|Whitford|1990|pp=24–25}}

Klimt received a basic education at an ordinary ''Bürgerschule'', where his drawing ability was recognised as remarkable.{{Sfn|Whitford|1990|p=25}} At the age of fourteen, he was accepted into the Vienna [[Kunstgewerbeschule]], a school of [[Applied arts|applied arts and crafts]], now the [[University of Applied Arts Vienna]], where he studied [[architectural painting]] from 1876 until 1883.<ref>Bailey, Colin B., Peter Vergo, Emily Braun, Jane Kallir, and John Collins (2001). ''Gustav Klimt: Modernism in the Making''. New York: Abrams. p. 55. {{ISBN|0888847181}}.</ref>{{Sfn | Sabarsky | 1983 | p = 7}} He studied under [[Ferdinand Laufberger]] and later [[Julius Victor Berger]] after Laufberger's death in 1881. Klimt revered Vienna's foremost history painter of the time, [[Hans Makart]], and aspired to replicate his success.{{Sfn|Whitford|1990|pp=31–37}} Klimt readily accepted the principles of conservative training; his early work may be classified as academic.{{Sfn | Sabarsky | 1983 | p = 7}} Klimt began his professional career with minor commissions, painting interior murals and ceilings in large public buildings on the [[Ringstrasse]].{{Citation needed|date=May 2025|reason=No doubt this is true but a firm mention would be nice instead of  "a number of minor projects" (Whitford 1990)}}