Famed Gustav Klimt painting headed to Hague museum

Austrian painter Gustav Klimt's famous painting Judith 1 will be on display in Gemeentemuseum in The Hague from March 19th next year, museum director Benno Tempel announced in radio program Met het Oog op Morgen, NU reports.

According to Tempel, it was very difficult to get a Klimt artwork to a Dutch museum, because Austria is "not keen" to lend one out. This loan was made possible by the Gemeentemuseum previously lending the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere in Vienna a work by another Austrian painer Egon Schiele. Tempel calls it "a dream come true".

The museum director would not say what other paintings will be exhibited with the Judith 1, but did say that it will be a small exhibition. "This painting is so beautiful that you do not need to hang much around it."

Judith 1 was painted in 1901 and is considered one of Klimt's most famous paintings. In the painting Judith, a biblical figure, is posing with the head of Holofernes, a general of Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II who she beheaded.