Gustav Klimt – Schloss Kammer on the Attersee III

Schloss Kammer on the Attersee III is Gustav Klimt’s close-up of a castle on the lake, painted in 1909–1910: a sunny yellow facade with white-framed windows behind a row of round green trees, a red-brown roof across the top and, below, a wide band of pale green-blue water with soft reflections. The original hangs in the Belvedere in Vienna. Each copy is painted by hand for you in oil on canvas, in eight square sizes from 60 x 60 to 150 x 150 cm or made to measure, and before it leaves our studio you approve a photograph of the finished work.

Schloss Kammer on the Attersee III – Gustav Klimt

What does the painting show?

The castle comes very close here. A warm yellow facade stretches across the canvas, its windows framed in white, and in front of it stands a row of round, densely leafed trees in many shades of green. Above them a red-brown roof runs along the top edge, and of the sky there is nothing at all.

The lower part of the canvas is the lake: a wide band of pale green and blue water in which the trees and the yellow wall return as soft, blurred reflections. Everything is built from short strokes and small dots of colour, so the surface seems to shimmer gently, like a summer day seen through warm air.

Did Klimt paint it through a telescope?

Very probably, yes. According to the Belvedere, which owns the painting, Klimt painted this lakeside facade of Schloss Kammer from the opposite shore of a small bay, just under 200 metres away, with the help of a telescope. In 1915 he wrote to his sister Hermine from his holiday home on the Attersee: “Arrived safely, forgot my opera glasses – need them badly.”

The telescope explains the unusual look of the painting. Through the lens, the trees, the low front wing and the red roof of the main building behind it seem to lie on one single plane, almost without depth. Klimt keeps that effect instead of correcting it, and that is what makes the view feel so modern.

A view as flat as a pattern

Because of the zoom effect, the painting reads almost like a tapestry: a band of red roof, a band of yellow wall and green trees, and a band of water. As the Belvedere points out, the softly out-of-focus reflections make the lake, too, part of this flat surface.

On your wall this means a calm, orderly composition with warm and cool colours in balance – sunny yellow above, fresh green and blue below. It brings light into a room without dominating it, and it rewards a closer look: the longer you look, the more small touches of colour you discover in the leaves and in the water.

Where is the original?

The original is in the Upper Belvedere in Vienna, under inventory number 4318. It is painted in oil on canvas, measures 110 x 110 cm and is signed on the right side GUSTAV / KLIMT. According to the museum, it came to the Belvedere in 1936 as a gift credited to Adele and Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer. The museum’s online record is linked in the table above.

In Vienna you can see it in the Belvedere; at home, a hand-painted version lets you live with it every day. Ours is not a print but a painting made for you by hand, and our 110 x 110 cm size is exactly the size of Klimt’s canvas. More about the painter’s life is on Wikipedia’s Klimt page.

Schloss Kammer III among Klimt’s Kammer views

Schloss Kammer appears in five of Klimt’s paintings. In the first, Schloss Kammer on the Attersee I in Prague, he shows the castle from far across the water, with a boathouse and long reflections. In this third view he comes much closer, so that the yellow facade itself becomes the subject. Which one suits you? This one if you want the warm yellow of the walls and a tighter, more graphic composition; the first if you would rather have more water and green. The first view is in our gallery as Schloss Kammer on the Attersee I, and Schloss Kammer on the Attersee II shows the castle from the land side, with the dark roofs behind tall trees and a meadow in front.

Related works in our gallery: Avenue in the Park of Kammer Castle leads you along an avenue of old trees to the same castle; Island in Lake Attersee and On Lake Attersee show the lake almost without land; and Church in Cassone is a village on Lake Garda in the same square format, its houses rising from the water’s edge.

How do we paint Schloss Kammer on the Attersee III by hand?

Our painter begins with the drawing: the line of the roof, the edges of the facade and windows, the outlines of the round trees and the line where wall meets water. Then come the first thin layers – the yellow of the wall, the red-brown of the roof, the base greens of the trees and the pale blue-green of the lake.

The detail is built up afterwards, dab by dab: the many greens of the foliage, the white window frames, and the soft, blurred reflections that keep the water calm. A printed oil painting reproduction would give you one flat, shiny layer; a painting made by hand keeps the relief of every stroke, which catches the light differently through the day. Each one is a hand-painted copy made only for your order.

The original contains no gold, so neither does our version – only oil colours, like Klimt’s canvas.

Which size for which wall?

The quick answer: 60 x 60 or 70 x 70 cm for a hallway, a study or a narrow wall; 80 x 80 or 90 x 90 cm for a bedroom or above a sideboard; 100 x 100 or 110 x 110 cm above a sofa or a dining table; 120 x 120 or 150 x 150 cm for a large living room wall. The 110 x 110 cm size is exactly the size of the original.

Every size is square, like Klimt’s canvas, so the composition stays complete. Because the facade and the trees are full of small detail, a larger size lets you see more of it; from 100 x 100 cm upwards the painting holds a wall on its own. As a painting for the living room, its warm yellow brightens a room that faces north. In a dining room or kitchen it adds a summery, sunny note.

A good hanging height places the centre of the canvas at about eye level, 150 to 160 cm from the floor. Above a sofa or sideboard, keep 20 to 30 cm of wall between furniture and canvas, and choose a width of roughly two thirds of the furniture below.

Custom size, stretcher and frame

Need a size that is not on the list? We paint it to measure; to keep the composition intact, stay square or close to square. Tell us the width and height and we will send you the price and delivery time. All our paintings arrive stretched on a wooden stretcher, ready to hang.

To choose a frame, open our 3D application: it puts each of our frame mouldings on this subject, so you can try gold, silver, black, white and natural wood side by side; it serves only for choosing the frame. To see the painting on your own wall, ask for our separate room placement service. A slim gold or ochre frame picks up the yellow facade; white keeps the whole painting light and fresh.

Delivery and guarantee

We paint each order in our studio in Slovenia, so the painting takes 15 to 45 days, depending on its size. It travels stretched and well protected, framed if you ordered a frame, anywhere in the EU without customs. Before it is sent, we e-mail you a photograph of the finished painting for your approval, and if something should be changed, we change it while the canvas is still with us. Every order is covered by our returns policy.

Giving it as a present and unsure of the size? Our gift voucher lets the recipient choose. Browse more works in our Gustav Klimt gallery or read our article 10 interesting facts about Gustav Klimt.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the original Schloss Kammer on the Attersee III by Klimt?

It is in the Upper Belvedere in Vienna, inventory number 4318. The painting is oil on canvas, 110 x 110 cm, signed on the right side, and came to the museum in 1936 as a gift credited to Adele and Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer. Our 110 x 110 cm size is exactly the size of the original.

When was Schloss Kammer on the Attersee III painted?

Klimt painted it in 1909–1910, during his summer stays at the Attersee in Austria. It is the third of his views of Schloss Kammer; he painted the castle five times in all, sometimes from far across the water and sometimes close up, as in this version with its yellow facade and red roof.

Did Klimt use a telescope for Schloss Kammer III?

The Belvedere says he probably did. He painted the lakeside facade from the opposite shore of a small bay, just under 200 metres away, and the zoom effect flattens trees, front wing and roof onto one plane. In a letter of 1915 he even complained that he had forgotten his opera glasses.

What does Klimt’s Schloss Kammer on the Attersee III show?

It shows the yellow, white-windowed facade of Schloss Kammer behind a row of round green trees, with a red-brown roof along the top edge. Below lies a broad band of pale green-blue lake with soft reflections of the wall and the trees. There is no sky and there are no people in the painting.

How does Schloss Kammer III differ from Schloss Kammer I?

The third view, in Vienna, is a close-up of the yellow facade, flattened by the telescope. The first view, in Prague, shows the castle from much further away, with a grey boathouse and long reflections in green water. Choose the third for warm yellow and a graphic effect, the first for more lake.

Is there gold in Schloss Kammer on the Attersee III?

No. The painting is a summer landscape in yellow, green, red-brown and pale blue, and its glow comes from colour and light, not from metal. We paint our version with oil colours only, without gold paint, exactly like the original, so the warm yellow facade stays natural.

Which size of Schloss Kammer on the Attersee III should I choose?

For a hallway or study choose 60 x 60 or 70 x 70 cm; for a bedroom or above a sideboard 80 x 80 or 90 x 90 cm; above a sofa 100 x 100 or 110 x 110 cm; and for a big wall 120 x 120 or 150 x 150 cm. The 110 x 110 cm size matches the original exactly.

Which room suits Schloss Kammer on the Attersee III?

A living room, dining room, kitchen or bright hallway – any room that needs warmth and summer light. As a canvas painting it pairs well with white, sand, terracotta or olive walls, natural wood and brass details. It is especially good for a room with little daylight, where the yellow facade adds sunshine.

Is Schloss Kammer on the Attersee III a good gift?

Yes, for anyone who enjoys Austria, lakes, architecture or Klimt’s quieter landscapes. Its square format and calm subject suit almost any home. For a safe choice, 80 x 80 cm fits most walls; if you do not know the recipient’s room, a gift voucher lets them choose the size themselves.

• Subject: the yellow facade of Schloss Kammer behind round green trees, a red-brown roof and a band of pale lake water.
• Original: 1909–1910, oil on canvas, 110 x 110 cm, Belvedere, Vienna.
• Our version: a Klimt reproduction, painted by hand in oil on canvas in eight square sizes or to measure.
• Good to know: you approve a photograph of the finished painting before we send it.