The Belvedere owns the largest collection of paintings by Gustav Klimt in the world. More than 20 masterpieces provide an incomparable impression of the oeuvre of Austria’s probably most famous artist. Gustav Klimt founded the "Künstler-Compagnie" (Artists Company) around 1880, together with his brother Ernst and Franz Matsch. The company supplied painted decorations for theatre buildings of the monarchy (including in Reichenberg, Karlsbad and Rijeka), stately homes, the (Hof-)Burgtheater. Together with Mihaly Munkácsy he worked on the frescos for the staircase of the Kunsthistorisches (Hof) Museum, which had been begun by Hans Makart, Gustav Klimt’s great model. The Belvedere is showing major works by the Klimt brothers and by Franz Matsch, embedded into the art of historicism and art nouveau, thus making Klimt’s great leap forward into the modern age comprehensible.