Dressing the Woman in Gold: The Unknown Bohemian Designer behind the Paintings

Even though you might not have his name on the tip of your tongue like Van Gogh or Monet, you know a Gustav Klimt painting when you see one. His gold leaf Japanese-influenced portraits of women, one of the most famous of which was recently the subject of a major Hollywood film (Woman in Gold), dressed in vibrant, multicolored and almost psychedelic prints, saw him become one of the most prominent painters of his era. His works sell today for hundreds of millions of dollars, some of the highest prices ever recorded for individual works of art.

But were those mosaic-like dresses real? Who was behind the designs worn by the beautiful Viennese society women in Klimt’s paintings?