Gustav Klimt paintings and the kiss that changed the world
Gustav Klimt has decisively
influenced the modern painting and has made the
Jugendstil famous throughout the world. He first scared the Viennese, then
charmed them: this is Gustav
Klimt. The son of a talented but poor gold engraver revolutionized not only
artistic technique, but also debunked the taboos about instincts and eroticism.
As a contemporary of Sigmund Freud and Gustav Mahler, Gustav Klimt lived in the
upsurge of the Austrian capital. As a rebellious fascist of freedom of art and
sexuality, Gustav Klimt gave Vienna an impressive number of valuable works of
art.
His talent came at an early
stage, so Gustav Klimt received a scholarship from the Vienna School of Art
thanks to which he has studied from the 14th year of Art School. With a strong
echo, Gustav Klimt ushers in the new century, the era of modernity: in 1894,
when due to his reputation as a respected artist, received the order to paint
the ceiling of the University of Vienna, his libertine sketches had managed to
source a scandal with big reverberations.
Then the time came for the
indomitable genius of Gustav Klimt: already in 1897, he became the first
president of the Vienna Secession, a division from the conservatism Artists
House Vienna, Wiener Künstlerhaus. Check this out. Even
though in 1905 he was forced to abandon the command received from the Ministry
of Education for painting the ceiling University, Gustav Klimt remained
faithful to his propensity for representation of the sensual female nudes. Many
of his paintings represent an honest homage to emancipated, sensual femininity.
Attracted by the unique ornamentation of the Jugendstil, Gustav Klimt
celebrated through his portraits the female universe of Vienna.
The female universe
The triumphal march of Gustav
Klimt in the world of artistic world began in Vienna. His paintings have been
exhibited and sold all over Europe, and in New York have hit record prices. Especially
his "golden age" paintings, the source of the creation of sumptuous
paintings of enormous material value, remained in the artistic memory of the
humanity.
Probably Klimt's most famous
painting "The Kiss" (1907/08) is considered to be the symbol of
modern love: courageous and wasteful at the same time. This painting can be
admired at Belvedere Superior, Oberen Belvedere, while in other places you can
see numerous replicas. The work dates back to the so-called "golden"
period of the artist. This is best illustrated by the golden petals that
illuminate the phosphorescent scene of the intimate kiss. Klimt's decorative
craftsmanship can be seen on the example of the flower mattress stretched at
the feet of the two lovers, whom the figures united in the hugs have embedded
in a statuary immobility.
See more here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kiss_(Klimt)
In the last years of his life,
Gustav Klimt has increasingly dealt with a typical theme of Vienna at that
time: the close bond between sexuality and death. The climate of the capital,
where Sigmund Freud was bent on study this topic in terms of psychoanalysis,
has given life to the painting "Death and Life", which in 1911 was
awarded first prize at the International Exhibition of Art in Rome.
Master of ornaments
Gustav Klimt was told that he was
the master of ornaments and the attractive female painter, which is real. Women
and painting, food and good wine were the cardinal points of the life of
Austria's most cherished artist. The Klimt man lived on a strict program: he
woke up early in the morning and was doing exercises before taking a hearty
breakfast. He painted until the evening without interruption. Then he went to
the city at the theater, parties, pubs or cafes. His favorite drink was
sparkling wine and he liked on Viennese food.
The painter who revolutionized
the Viennese
artistic scene at the beginning of the nineteenth century, when this city
became the center of Europe's cultural life, made a fairly modest self-portrait
in words. "I'm sure I'm not very interesting as a person. If someone wants
to know something about me - and only as an artist, it is deserved the trouble
- he should look carefully at my paintings to try to decipher who I am and what
I want" Gustav Klimt said about himself.
Beethoven's frieze
In 1902, Klimt created one of his
most famous works for an exhibition of the secessionist movement: Beethoven's
frieze. The entire exhibition was conceived as a tribute to Ludwig van
Beethoven. Klimt's monumental frieze welcomes visitors from the entrance hall,
34 meters wide and two meters high. Not only the artist's contemporaries were
impressed by this work, but the echo of this work reverberates to this day.
The
initial intent was to have this cycle be dismantled after the exhibition was
closed. Then the frieze was bought by a collector and in 1903 it was dismounted
from the wall in seven parts. The Republic of Austria acquired this valuable
work in 1973, restored it and, in 1986, exposed it to the public in Secession,
in a specially designed room for this exhibit.
