Gustav Klimt – The Three Ages of Woman

The Three Ages of Woman is Klimt’s painting of 1905: a child, a young mother and an old woman, standing close together against a dark ground and a tall band of golden ornament. The original, oil on canvas and 180 x 180 cm, belongs to La Galleria Nazionale in Rome. We paint it by hand in oil on canvas, the gold areas in gold paint, and send you a photograph of the finished work for approval before dispatch.

The Three Ages of Woman – Gustav Klimt

What is shown?

Three nude female figures stand close together. On the left is an old woman in profile, bent forward, hiding her face behind her hand and her long grey hair. Her body is painted without flattery: a sagging belly, thin arms, a curved back. To her right stands a young woman with closed eyes and flowers in her hair, holding a small sleeping child against her. A sheer blue veil falls around her legs.

Behind the figures rises a tall band of golden and coloured circles and ornament that binds them together. The ground is dark, almost black at the top and mottled grey-brown below, so the pale skin of mother and child stands out all the more. The canvas is square and large: in front of it the figures are close to life size.

Why does the old woman hide her face?

The old woman on the left is the most startling part of the painting. She looks neither at us nor at the two younger figures; with bowed head and a hand over her face she stands apart, as if stepping back. Klimt spared her nothing: he painted her body as age leaves it and placed it at the edge of the golden ornament that surrounds the other two.

That contrast is the heart of the work. Beside the young mother holding her child with closed eyes, the old woman looks lonelier, and mother and child look more tender. So viewers read the painting both ways: from child to old woman as a path through life, or from the old woman back to the child as a memory of where it began.

What does the painting mean?

The title says what we see: three stages of a woman’s life, childhood, maturity and old age, on a single canvas. Klimt did not lay them out as a story in time but as one moment. The child sleeps, the mother dreams with closed eyes, the old woman has already fallen silent. All three belong to the same cycle, and nobody can stop it.

The golden ornament behind them is typical of Klimt’s Golden Period, when he built backgrounds from circles, spirals and rectangles that lift figures out of ordinary space. Here the gold surrounds mainly the mother and child, while the old woman stands at its edge. That is why most readings also find in it the thought of beauty and transience that returns in several of Klimt’s works.

Where is the painting today, and how did it reach Rome?

The Three Ages of Woman was painted in Vienna in 1905, in the years of Klimt’s most golden work. In 1911 it was acquired by the Italian state, which is why it is in Rome today, in the collection of La Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, often shortened to GNAM.

The gallery stands by the Villa Borghese park. If you plan a trip to Rome for this painting, check the gallery’s website first to see whether it is on view, because museums lend works to exhibitions elsewhere from time to time. As the canvas is square and large, you notice it from the doorway of the room.

The whole painting or the mother and child detail – which should you choose?

You can order the whole of The Three Ages of Woman from us, or only its most tender part, the mother and child, which we offer as a square crop called Mother and Child (detail). The whole painting tells the complete story, with the old woman and the golden band; the crop concentrates on the faces of the mother and her sleeping child.

Choose the whole painting if you want the meaning of the three ages and have a large wall; choose the crop if you are looking for a gentle subject for a bedroom or a nursery. Klimt set life and death side by side again in Death and Life, and from the Golden Period we also paint The Kiss and Hope II.

How is our hand-painted version made?

The painter first draws the three figures on the canvas with a fine line, fixing their proportions and the tall band of ornament behind them. The skin is then built up in several layers: warm and smooth on the mother and child, with more shadow and more folds on the old woman. Only after that comes the dark ground, laid on in patches so it has the same restless, stony surface as the original.

The gold areas in our painting are not printed and not leaf. We use gold paint, which the painter applies by hand with a brush, circle by circle, so the band behind the figures glows in a warm gold tone. The coloured circles, the blue veil and the flowers in the hair are added last.

Every painting is a hand-painted copy made for your order, so no two are ever quite the same. A printed oil painting reproduction cannot show the relief of the brushstrokes and the shine of the gold paint that you can see and feel on the canvas.

Which size for which wall?

Short answer: 120 x 110 cm for most living rooms, 100 x 90 cm for a smaller wall, and 160 x 140 cm or larger for a big wall under a high ceiling. The sizes are 60 x 55, 80 x 70, 90 x 80, 100 x 90, 120 x 110, 140 x 130, 160 x 140, 180 x 160, 198 x 178 and 250 x 225 cm.

Worth knowing: the original is perfectly square, while our sizes are a little wider than they are tall, so their shape differs slightly from the original. If you want the square format Klimt painted, choose made to measure in the next section. With its dark ground and golden band the painting needs a calm wall and good light. A painting for the living room should take up about two thirds of the width of the furniture below it.

Hang it with the centre of the canvas about 150 cm above the floor, and 20 to 30 cm above a chest of drawers or a sofa. The largest sizes look best on an open wall with no furniture beneath them.

Custom size, stretcher and frame

If you want the painting in the square proportion of the original, we paint it to measure, for example 100 x 100, 140 x 140 or 180 x 180 cm. Send us the width and height you want and we will quote a price and a lead time. Every painting we make is stretched over a wooden stretcher and ready to hang.

For the moulding, use our 3D application: it shows every one of our frame profiles on this subject, so you can compare gold, silver, black, white and natural wood before deciding – the application is for choosing the frame only. If you would like to see how the painting will look on your own wall, that is our separate room placement service. A slim gold or a dark wooden frame suits the dark ground and the golden band.

Delivery and guarantee

Every painting is made to order in our studio in Slovenia, so allow 15 to 45 days depending on the size you choose. We ship it stretched and protected for transport, framed if you chose a frame, across the EU with no customs. Before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished work to approve, and our returns policy applies to every order.

Every other Klimt work we paint is in the Gustav Klimt gallery, and there is more about the painter in our ten facts about Klimt. If the painting is a gift and you are unsure of the size, there is a wall art voucher: the recipient chooses the size and the subject.

Frequently asked questions

Where is The Three Ages of Woman today?

The Three Ages of Woman is in Rome, at La Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna e Contemporanea, also known as GNAM. It came there when the Italian state acquired it in 1911. The gallery stands by the Villa Borghese park. Before you visit, check that the work is on view, because the museum may lend it to an exhibition.

What does The Three Ages of Woman mean?

It shows three stages of a woman’s life on one canvas: childhood, maturity and old age. A young mother with closed eyes holds a sleeping child, while an old woman stands apart, hiding her face with her hand and hair. Most readings see the cycle of life in it, and the contrast between beauty and transience. More on Wikipedia (Italian).

What year is The Three Ages of Woman from, and how big is it?

Klimt painted it in 1905, in the middle of his Golden Period. The original is oil on canvas and measures 180 x 180 cm, so it is square and larger than most walls in a home. That is why you can choose a smaller size from us, or a square made-to-measure format that keeps the proportion of the original.

Why does the old woman in The Three Ages of Woman cover her face?

There is no definite answer, so the question stays open. She stands in profile, bent forward, a hand over her face and her long grey hair falling down, as if turning away from the youth beside her. Most viewers read it as grief at the passing of time, which nobody escapes. Her body is painted with no flattery at all.

Is the gold on your Three Ages of Woman real?

The gold on our painting is not leaf: we paint the gold areas with gold paint, which the painter applies by hand with a brush, circle by circle. So the tall band of ornament behind the figures glows warmly when the light falls on it. The whole canvas painting, including the golden ornament and the blue veil, is painted by hand.

What is the difference between The Three Ages of Woman and Mother and Child (detail)?

The Three Ages of Woman is the whole painting with three figures: the child, the mother and the old woman before the golden band. Mother and Child is a square crop of only the mother and her sleeping child, without the old woman. Choose the whole painting for a larger wall and the full story, the crop for a bedroom or nursery.

In which sizes can I order The Three Ages of Woman?

There are ten sizes, from 60 x 55 to 250 x 225 cm, with for example 100 x 90, 120 x 110 and 160 x 140 cm in between. All are a little wider than they are tall, while the original is square. If you want the square shape, we paint it to measure, for example 140 x 140 cm, and quote the price and the lead time in advance.

Which room suits The Three Ages of Woman?

It works best in a living room or bedroom with a calm, light wall, where the dark ground and the golden band can show. Because it shows nude figures and old age, a more private room suits it better than an entrance hall. For a nursery, the crop with only the mother and child is the better choice.

Is The Three Ages of Woman a good gift?

Yes, especially for a mother, a grandmother or to mark the birth of a child, because it shows the bond between generations. As the canvas is large, it helps to know the wall where it will hang and to choose the size to match. If you do not know the size, you can give a voucher and let the recipient choose size and subject.

• Subject: a child, a young mother and an old woman before a tall band of golden ornament.
• Original: 1905, 180 x 180 cm, La Galleria Nazionale (GNAM), Rome.
• Ours: a Klimt reproduction painted by hand in oil on canvas, gold areas in gold paint, in ten sizes or made to measure.
• Worth knowing: you receive a photograph of the finished work for approval before dispatch.