Klimt works to debut in Taipei this December

Taipei, Sept. 29 (CNA) The National Museum of History (NMH) will collaborate with Vienna's Belvedere Museum to launch a flower-themed exhibition this December featuring 60 paintings, including original works by Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimt (1862-1918).

The exhibition will mark the NMH's 70th founding anniversary, a spokesperson for the downtown Taipei museum told CNA on Monday.

Titled "A Century of Viennese Flower Paintings -- From Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller to Gustav Klimt," the exhibition is being organized by the Belvedere in Vienna in cooperation with the NMH and Taipei-based Mediasphere Communications LTD., according to the Taipei museum.

Highlights will include the "Still life with bust of Crown Prince Rudolf" by Hugo Charlemont (1850-1939) and "Poor Wishers" by Waldmüller (1793-1865), the NMH spokesperson said.

The Belvedere is one of Austria's most representative national art museums, with a collection spanning 800 years that includes works by Klimt, Egon Schiele, and Koloman Moser.

The Taipei exhibition marks the first time original works from the Belvedere's collection will be shown in Taiwan.

According to the NMH, the exhibition, which runs from Dec. 5, 2025 to March 22, 2026, will also feature an immersive "Klimt Garden" that will invite visitors to step into the floral worlds depicted by 19th-century painters.

Covering 200 years of European art history, the show will trace styles ranging from Baroque, Romanticism and Impressionism to explorations of Modernism, offering audiences a glimpse into Vienna's flourishing artistic heritage, the NMH said in a statement.