Gustav Klimt and Emilie Flöge: A 27-Year Bond

Gustav Klimt and Emilie Flöge shared a 27-year relationship until Klimt's death in 1918. Despite Klimt's reputation as a womanizer who fathered at least 14 children and never married, their bond was intellectually and emotionally intimate rather than physical. Flöge, a member of Viennese bohemian circles, co-ran the haute couture salon Schwestern Flöge with her sister. The salon, designed by Josef Hoffmann and Koloman Moser in Wiener Werkstätte style, became a leading fashion address for Viennese society, attracting clients like Sonja Knips, Hermine Gallia, and Eugenia Primavesi, who were also Klimt's patrons. Klimt portrayed Flöge in many works after 1891, including the famous The Kiss (1907–08), which some art historians believe depicts them as lovers. His 1902 portrait of Flöge shows her in a Reformkleid, a radical alternative to conventional fashion. Nearly 400 written documents from Klimt to Flöge survive. Upon his death from a stroke on 11 January 1918, his last words were reportedly "Get Emilie." She inherited half his estate. The salon operated until 1938, closing after Austria's annexation into the German Reich. Flöge never married and died in 1952. During WWII, her house caught fire, destroying her garment collection and Klimt estate objects.