Danaë

Danaë, painted in 1907–1908, depicts the Greek mythological figure who was impregnated by Zeus in the form of a golden shower while imprisoned by her father Acrisius. Klimt's treatment of the subject is among his most overtly erotic works. The figure is shown in a state of ecstatic reception, her body curled in a foetal position with eyes closed, as golden light — representing Zeus — flows between her thighs. The mythological pretext gave Klimt licence to depict female sexual pleasure with an explicitness unusual in public Viennese painting of the period. By 1907 he had completed the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I and was working on The Kiss; the three works form a kind of summit of his Golden Phase, all using actual gold and rich ornamental patterning to transform erotic and emotional content into decorative spectacle. The square canvas's tight cropping intensifies the enclosed, private feeling of the scene. Klimt was deeply interested in the female experience of sexuality and desire — his thousands of private drawings document this obsession — and Danaë is one of the few finished paintings that addresses erotic experience from a distinctly female perspective rather than the male gaze. The work is held in a private collection in Vienna.

Oil on canvas with gold and gilt ornament. The composition is tightly cropped, the figure filling almost the entire canvas in a foetal curl. Warm flesh tones contrast with the gold of the flowing rain of Zeus, and the figure's garment introduces a purple-black pattern that anchors the otherwise warm palette. The background is minimal, focusing all attention on the figure.