Gustav Klimt:
On Lake Attersee (Am Attersee) (1900)
Oil on canvas
80.2 × 80.2 cm
© Leopold Museum
(Natter no. 132)

Gustav Klimt, best known for his golden portraits and detailed patterns, spent the summer of 1900 at Lake Attersee in Austria. During that time, he painted On Lake Attersee, a piece that looks very different from his usual work. Instead of people or rich decorations, this painting focuses only on the calm surface of the lake.

The canvas is square, and almost all of it is filled with soft shades of turquoise water. The waves are gentle and seem to move slowly. There’s no busy scene or dramatic view—just water. In the top right corner, you can spot a bit of land from Litzlberg Island, but it doesn’t take away from the peaceful feeling of the painting.

When Klimt showed the work at the 10th Secession Exhibition in Vienna in 1901, many people were impressed. One critic, Ludwig Hevesi, described it as “a frame full of lake water, of the Attersee—nothing but short gray and green waves, flowing into each other.”

This painting isn’t just a picture of a lake—it’s more like a quiet moment. Klimt invites us to slow down and look closely, to notice the small changes in color and movement. It’s a reminder that beauty can be found in simple things, if we take the time to see them.