VIENNA (AP) 鈥� For more than a century, only conservators and experts could catch a close-up glimpse of early works by Austrian artist in Vienna, but Klimt fans are now getting that opportunity on daily guided tours high up on scaffolding.
The 10 oil paintings, which are on the 18-meter-high (60-foot-high) ceilings of the renowned Burgtheater in , are being restored because of water damage.
鈥淭he special thing about Klimt for me at least is that we only know about his later works,鈥� said Hannes H枚llinger, 60, who went on one of the recent Klimt tours and said it 鈥渨as very interesting to see that already at age 24 he made these very beautiful paintings which I myself had not seen before.鈥�
Klimt, famed for his bold, daring art nouveau paintings, was a key figure in artistic modernism at the start of the 20th century. His work has fetched some of the . Among his most famous paintings is 鈥淭he Kiss鈥� from 1907-1908, which shows a couple in a passionate embrace adorned with elaborate patterns and gold. The painting is on display at Vienna’s Belvedere Museum.
鈥淲e were allowed to invest several hundred thousand euros to let Gustav Klimt shine in his original splendor again,鈥� Burgtheater commercial director Robert Beutler told The Associated Press. 鈥淓verything gets cleaned by hand with very fine cotton swabs and condensed water.鈥�
The biggest Klimt painting is about 35 square meters (375 square feet), 鈥渟o you can imagine how long that takes when you remove dust and grime piece by piece and layer by layer,鈥� Beutler said.
Klimt painted the art at the theater from 1886-1888, together with his brother Ernst and Austrian painter Franz Matsch. At age 24, it was Klimt’s first big commission.
Conservator Thomas Mahr, who is responsible for restoring the stucco surrounding Klimt鈥檚 early work, said the artists’ pitch at the time was 鈥�’we are young, we are fast, and provide great work at low cost’ 鈥� and that鈥檚 how they got into business.”
The paintings depict different scenes from theater history. One of the biggest works displays a scene from 16th-century London, in which Queen Elizabeth I is shown watching a staging of 鈥淩omeo and Juliet鈥� at the Globe Theatre. Right behind the queen, Klimt and his two fellow artists look on. It is Klimt’s only known self-portrait.
Every day, hundreds of art lovers climb the scaffolding as part of guided tours to view Klimt鈥檚 work up close. Susanne H枚llinger, who took the tour with her husband Hannes, said the early paintings already offer an idea of what Klimt’s most famous later paintings would look like.
She especially enjoyed looking at the many details of the paintings that aren’t visible from the floor of the theater such as finely painted, small figures or the cigarette in the fingers of Klimt鈥檚 chain-smoking brother Ernst.
鈥淭o be so close to these freshly renovated paintings 鈥� just a unique experience,鈥� H枚llinger exclaimed.
The special guided tours about Klimt’s ceiling art will continue until August, after which the scaffolding will be removed. General admission tickets are available on the theater’s website for 25 euros ($29).
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
