Two Girls with Oleander

Two women dressed in dark clothing stand beside a flowering oleander tree, its blossoms set against a warm, gold-leafed backdrop. The piece is rendered in oil by Gustav Klimt, an Austrian artist associated with Art Nouveau, Jugendstil, and Symbolism. The painting entered the Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art through the Douglas Tracy Smith and Dorothy Potter Smith Fund together with the Ella Gallup Sumner and Mary Catlin Sumner Collection Fund. Klimt also created Adele Bloch-Bauer II, another notable example of his art.