Gustav Klimt

Perhaps the most well-known of Vienna's artists, Klimt was born in 1862 into a lower middle class family with 7 children. His prime years were spent in Vienna during it's golden age, where he rubbed shoulders with the likes of Schiele, Kokoschka,Wagner, Mahler and Freud, among many many others.


Anecdotes:
From 1914 to 1916, Klimt spent 3 years making a portrait of Elisabeth Bachofen- Echt. She finally got fed up of the costumes, the strange poses and Klimt's dissatisfaction with the results, and walked off with an unfinished version of the painting. When Klimt later saw this painting displayed in the salon, he exclaimed: "now that is most certainly not her." Elisabeth's mother, who had commissioned the painting went on to commission another portrait from Klimt, this time of her mother.
 
Source: http://www.austria.info/uk/art-culture/gustav-klimt-anecdotes-1545347.html
The painting: http://www.wikipaintings.org/en/gustav-klimt/portrait-of-baroness-elisabeth-bachofen-echt-1916

Introduction

Wie Früh stands for Wiener Frühstück, which means Viennese breakfast. We visit a different Viennese Coffee house each week and have breakfast together. The abbreviated form, meaning "so early" is also apt. We meet at 8 in the morning, so accounting for a half-hour travel time and another half an hour to get ready, most of us drag ourselves out of bed at 7 am or earlier. Voluntarily. I have often invited friends to join us and while declining they invariably explain that it is much too early in the day.

Considering the hub of intellectual exchange that Viennese Cafe houses have been, it would be a shame to use these meetings simply to gorge ourselves on delicious food and crisp coffees while talking about the current weather, the latest gossip, etc. So instead, surrounded by remnants of the past, we talk about the city we live in- the people who lived here and the lives they led. It helps that Vienna has hundreds of fascinating stories for us to sift through. Each week we divide up the tasks for the next week and each participant is responsible for finding unusual, interesting and anecdotal information about a particular personality, event or movement. We then tell each other these stories once a week over breakfast.
  
Credit for the concept and for putting the idea into motion goes to the inimitable Olga Shirobokova, who not only has great ideas but also the drive and perseverance to see them through. This blog documents some of the stories we have found and told each other over the weeks.