In the 1890s, Klimt painted a variety of commissioned male portraits. At the time, he would create several male studies, among which was The Blind Man. Male portraits are rare in Klimt’s oeuvre – none can be found in his later work. The fact that Klimt included this among four more paintings in the first Secession exhibition is proof that he attributed a high level of artistic value to the work. In the same year, the picture was published in a special issue of the Ver Sacrum magazine.