Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) was an Austrian painter who played a key role in the Vienna Art Nouveau movement. Art Noveau, also known as Jugendstil (German for "youth style"), was widely popular at the turn of the 20th century. Paintings in this style incorporate flowers, plants and other organic materials along with flowing, curving lines. Klimt's favorite subject was the female body, and much of his art includes erotic symbolism, painted with a distinctive, elegant gold color. In 2006, His 1907 portrait Adele Bloch-Bauer sold for $135 million, and at that time was the highest reported price ever paid for a piece of art sold at auction. Today, favorite Klimt wall prints include The Kiss, Mother and Child, and Beechwood Forest.

Wassily Kandinsky

One of the most famous 20th Century painters, Wassily Kandinsky is thought to have painted the first modern abstract works. He was born in Moscow in 1866, and as a young man studied law and economics at the University of Moscow. Although he was successful at his profession, he began to study painting when he turned 30. Kandinsky was greatly inspired by music, and he often incorporated spiritual themes in his art, addressing Christ's birth and death, resurrection, and the apocalypse. His abstract style is known for large masses of colors and very few human forms. Today, favorite Kandinsky prints include Farbestudie, a bright arrangement of colors and shapes, and Composition VII, which Kandinsky describes as his most complex work. The artist died in France in 1944.