A Glimpse of Klimt

A late happy birthday to Gustav Klimt who would have been 150 years old this year, 2012, on July 14th. In Austria they are celebrating the great contributor of the Vienna Secession all year round.

Gustav Klimt was born just outside Vienna in 1862 and was a student of School of Applied Arts in Vienna from 1876 to 1883. Trained in architectural painting, most of his early works were fairly conservative and most his commissions were for interior murals (Huffington).

In the late 1890's Klimt's work began to explore more symbolic motifs that were more "unconventional" for the times. His allegorical paintings were often seen as borderline pornographic and radical by critics (Huffington).  A good number of his drawings, paintings, and studies could still be considered pornographic by some as a lot of his focus was on the female nude. The majority his works were highly decorative and used gold leafing to a great magnitude.

Gustav Klimt - Water Serpents

His notable and recognizable work is the painting called The Kiss.

The Kiss, has been put on wallets, bags and even a print offered by Ikea. The painting shows a woman embraced by a man giving her a kiss, but some have argued the awkwardness of the angle of the woman's head, looking as if she has a broken neck.

It seems that Klimt had a sense for the macabre as some of his works explored allegories on life and death.

Gustav Klimt – Die hoffnung II

Gustav Klimt – Death and life

He became president of the Vienna Secession at the age of 35 in 1897 (Neue Galerie), leading a revolt against the Viennese Creative Artists Association (Meggs) and his highly stylized artwork leading an expressive way. He left the Secession in 1905, after a dispute with Josef Hoffman.

Later in life Klimt was often commissioned to do portraits liked to live secluded in his robe and sandals. He died  February 6, 1918 (Neue Gallerie).

Gustav Klimt, Vienna 1917
Photographer: Moritz Nähr (1859-1945)
Vintage silver print
Neue Galerie New York 

 

 

 A slide show of early photographs of Klimt can be found here:
 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/14/gustav-klimt-birthday_n_1672351.html#slide=1224274
Sources:
Neue Galerie
Meggs History of Graphic Design
Huffington Post