 Gustav Klimt was an unlikely artistic rebel, but in early 20th century Vienna, the work of this mild-mannered painter created a scandal in his home city. Having enjoyed a conventionally successful early career, Klimt s art changed radically in his mid-thirties. He became leader of the Vienna Secession, a group of avant-garde artists who would change the conservative Viennese art scene forever. Klimt¹s own work became increasingly erotic in nature. His deeply sensual portraits of Viennese women still make a powerful impression upon the modern viewer.