Klimt was the master of symbolism, but was his personal life as scandalous as his paintings? Born on July 14 1862 in Baumgarten, Austria, Gustav Klimt was the son of a struggling gold engraver. Klimt was the second of seven children and lived in poverty while he studied architectural painting at Vienna’s School of Applied Arts. All three of the Klimt boys displayed early artistic talent—as a member of the ‘Company of Artists’ (a group...