Gustav Klimt
Encyclopedia
Gustav Klimt was an Austria
n Symbolist painter
and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession
movement. His major works include paintings, mural
s, sketches
, and other art objects. Klimt's primary subject was the female body, and his works are marked by a frank eroticism—nowhere is this more apparent than in his numerous drawings in pencil (see Mulher sentada, below).
, near Vienna
in Austria-Hungary, the second of seven children—three boys and four girls. All three sons displayed artistic talent early on. His father, Ernst Klimt, formerly from Bohemia
, was a gold engraver. Ernst married Anna Klimt (née Finster), whose unrealized ambition was to be a musical performer. Klimt lived in poverty for most of his childhood, as work was scarce and economic advancement was difficult for immigrants.
In 1876, Klimt was awarded a scholarship to the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts (Kunstgewerbeschule
), where he studied until 1883, and received training as an architectural painter. He revered the foremost history painter of the time, Hans Makart
. Klimt readily accepted the principles of a conservative training; his early work may be classified as academic. In 1877 his brother Ernst, who, like his father, would become an engraver, also enrolled in the school. The two brothers and their friend Franz Matsch began working together; by 1880 they had received numerous commissions as a team they called the "Company of Artists", and helped their teacher in painting murals in the Kunsthistorisches Museum
in Vienna. Klimt began his professional career painting interior murals and ceilings in large public buildings on the Ringstraße
including a successful series of "Allegories and Emblems".
In 1888, Klimt received the Golden order of Merit from Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria for his contributions to murals painted in the Burgtheater
in Vienna. He also became an honorary member of the University of Munich and the University of Vienna
. In 1892 both Klimt's father and brother Ernst died, and he had to assume financial responsibility for his father's and brother's families. The tragedies affected his artistic vision as well, and soon he would veer toward a new personal style. In the early 1890s, Klimt met Emilie Flöge
, who, notwithstanding the artist's relationships with other women, was to be his companion until the end of his life. Whether his relationship with Flöge was sexual or not is debated, but during that period Klimt fathered at least 14 children.
) in 1897 and of the group's periodical Ver Sacrum ("Sacred Spring"). He remained with the Secession until 1908. The group's goals were to provide exhibitions for unconventional young artists, to bring the best foreign artists' works to Vienna, and to publish its own magazine to showcase members' work. The group declared no manifesto
and did not set out to encourage any particular style—Naturalists, Realists
, and Symbolists
all coexisted. The government supported their efforts and gave them a lease on public land to erect an exhibition hall. The group's symbol was Pallas Athena, the Greek
goddess of just causes, wisdom, and the arts—and Klimt painted his radical version in 1898.
In 1894, Klimt was commissioned to create three paintings
to decorate the ceiling of the Great Hall in the University of Vienna
. Not completed until the turn of the century, his three paintings, Philosophy, Medicine and Jurisprudence were criticized for their radical themes and material, which was called "pornographic
". Klimt had transformed traditional allegory
and symbolism into a new language which was more overtly sexual, and hence more disturbing. The public outcry came from all quarters—political, aesthetic, and religious. As a result, they were not displayed on the ceiling of the Great Hall. This would be the last public commission accepted by the artist. All three paintings were destroyed by retreating SS
forces in May 1945. His Nuda Verita (1899) defined his bid to further shake up the establishment. The starkly naked red-headed woman holds the mirror of truth, while above it is a quotation by Schiller
in stylized lettering, "If you cannot please everyone with your deeds and your art, please a few. To please many is bad."
In 1902, Klimt finished the Beethoven Frieze
for the 14th Vienna Secessionist exhibition, which was intended to be a celebration of the composer and featured a monumental, polychromed sculpture by Max Klinger
. Meant for the exhibition only, the frieze was painted directly on the walls with light materials. After the exhibition the painting was preserved, although it did not go on display until 1986. The face on the Beethoven portrait resembled the composer and Vienna Court Opera director Gustav Mahler, with whom Klimt had a respectful relationship.
During this period Klimt did not confine himself to public commissions. Beginning in the late 1890s he took annual summer holidays with the Flöge family on the shores of Attersee
and painted many of his landscapes there. Klimt was largely interested in painting figures; these works constitute the only genre aside from figure-painting which seriously interested Klimt. Klimt's Attersee paintings are of a number and quality so as to merit a separate appreciation. Formally, the landscapes are characterized by the same refinement of design and emphatic patterning as the figural pieces. Deep space in the Attersee works is so efficiently flattened to a single plane, it is believed that Klimt painted them while looking through a telescope.
Klimt's 'Golden Phase' was marked by positive critical reaction and success. Many of his paintings from this period used gold leaf
; the prominent use of gold can first be traced back to Pallas Athene (1898) and Judith I (1901), although the works most popularly associated with this period are the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I
(1907) and The Kiss
(1907–1908). Klimt travelled little but trips to Venice and Ravenna
, both famous for their beautiful mosaics, most likely inspired his gold technique and his Byzantine imagery. In 1904, he collaborated with other artists on the lavish Palais Stoclet, the home of a wealthy Belgian industrialist, which was one of the grandest monuments of the Art Nouveau
age. Klimt's contributions to the dining room, including both Fulfillment and Expectation, were some of his finest decorative work, and as he publicly stated, "probably the ultimate stage of my development of ornament." Between 1907 and 1909, Klimt painted five canvases of society women wrapped in fur. His apparent love of costume is expressed in the many photographs of Flöge modeling clothing he designed.
As he worked and relaxed in his home, Klimt normally wore sandals and a long robe with no undergarments. His simple life was somewhat cloistered, devoted to his art and family and little else except the Secessionist Movement, and he avoided café society and other artists socially. Klimt's fame usually brought patrons to his door, and he could afford to be highly selective. His painting method was very deliberate and painstaking at times and he required lengthy sittings by his subjects. Though very active sexually, he kept his affairs discreet and he avoided personal scandal. James Klimt was the oldest son of Gustav, and continued in art until his passing in 1973.
Klimt wrote little about his vision or his methods. He wrote mostly postcards to Flöge and kept no diary. In a rare writing called "Commentary on a non-existent self-portrait", he states "I have never painted a self-portrait. I am less interested in myself as a subject for a painting than I am in other people, above all women...There is nothing special about me. I am a painter who paints day after day from morning to night...Who ever wants to know something about me... ought to look carefully at my pictures."
In 1911 his painting Death and Life received first prize in the world exhibitions
in Rome. In 1915 his mother Anna died. Klimt died three years later in Vienna on February 6, 1918, having suffered a stroke
and pneumonia due to the influenza epidemic of 1918. He was buried at the Hietzing
Cemetery in Vienna. Numerous paintings were left unfinished.
Klimt's paintings have brought some of the highest prices recorded for individual works of art. In November 2003, Klimt's Landhaus am Attersee sold for $
29,128,000, but that was soon eclipsed by prices paid for other Klimts.
In 2006, the 1907 portrait, Adele Bloch-Bauer I, was purchased for the Neue Galerie New York by Ronald Lauder
for a reported US $135 million, surpassing Picasso's 1905 Boy With a Pipe
(sold May 5, 2004 for $104 million), as the highest reported price ever paid for a painting. On August 7, 2006, Christie's
auction house announced it was handling the sale of the remaining four works by Klimt that were recovered by Maria Altmann
and her co-heirs after their long legal battle against Austria (see Republic of Austria v. Altmann
). Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II
was sold at auction in November 2006 for $88 million, the third-highest priced piece of art at auction at the time. The Apple Tree I (ca. 1912) sold for $33 million, Birch Forest (1903) sold for $40.3 million, and Houses in Unterach on Lake Atter (1916) sold for $31 million. Collectively, the five restituted paintings netted over $327 million. A routine Attersee painting fetched $40.4 million at Sotheby's in November 2011.
The city of Vienna, Austria will have many special exhibitions commemorating Klimt's 150th birthday in 2012.
lithography, mounted on a heavy, cream-colored wove paper
with deckled edges. Thirty-one of the images (ten of which are multicolored) are printed on Chine-collé
, while the remaining nineteen are incredibly high quality halftones prints. Each piece was marked with a unique signet - designed by Klimt himself - which was impressed into the wove paper in gold metallic ink. The prints were issued in groups of ten to subscribers, in unbound black paper folders embossed with the artist's name. Due to the delicate nature of collotype lithography, as well as the necessity for multicolored prints (a feat difficult to reproduce with collotypes) and Klimt's own desire for perfection, the series that was published in mid 1908 was not completed until 1914.
Each of the fifty prints were categorized among five themes:
The monochrome collotypes as well as the halftone works were printed with a variety of colored inks ranging from sepia, blue, and green.
Franz Joseph I of Austria
was the first person to purchase Das Werk Gustav Klimts in 1908.
Many of the works contained in this volume depict erotic scenes of nude women, some of whom are masturbating alone or are coupled in sapphic
embraces. When a number of the original drawings were exhibited to the public at Gallerie Miethke in 1910 and the International Exhibition of Prints and Drawings in Vienna in 1913, they were met by critics and viewers who were not shy about their hostility towards Klimt's contemporary perspective. There was an audience for Klimt's erotic drawings however: 15 of his drawings were selected by Viennese poet Franz Blei
for his translation of Hellenistic satirist Lucian
's Dialogues of the Courteseans. The book, limited to 450 copies, provided Klimt the opportunity to show these more lurid depictions of women and avoided censoring thanks to a minute group of affluent (mostly male) audience.
Gustav Klimt and his work have been the subjects of many collector coins and medals. The most recent and prominent one is the famous 100 euro Painting Gold Coin, issued on November 5, 2003. The obverse depicts Klimt in his studio with two unfinished paintings on easels.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n Symbolist painter
Symbolism (arts)
Symbolism was a late nineteenth-century art movement of French, Russian and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. In literature, the style had its beginnings with the publication Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire...
and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession
Vienna Secession
The Vienna Secession was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian artists who had resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists, housed in the Vienna Künstlerhaus. This movement included painters, sculptors, and architects...
movement. His major works include paintings, mural
Mural
A mural is any piece of artwork painted or applied directly on a wall, ceiling or other large permanent surface. A particularly distinguishing characteristic of mural painting is that the architectural elements of the given space are harmoniously incorporated into the picture.-History:Murals of...
s, sketches
Sketch (drawing)
A sketch is a rapidly executed freehand drawing that is not usually intended as a finished work...
, and other art objects. Klimt's primary subject was the female body, and his works are marked by a frank eroticism—nowhere is this more apparent than in his numerous drawings in pencil (see Mulher sentada, below).
Early life and education
Gustav Klimt was born in BaumgartenBaumgarten, Vienna
Baumgarten was an independent town until the late 19th century and is an area of Vienna's fourteenth district, Penzing, today. It can be subdivided in Oberbaumgarten , and Unterbaumgarten....
, near Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
in Austria-Hungary, the second of seven children—three boys and four girls. All three sons displayed artistic talent early on. His father, Ernst Klimt, formerly from Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
, was a gold engraver. Ernst married Anna Klimt (née Finster), whose unrealized ambition was to be a musical performer. Klimt lived in poverty for most of his childhood, as work was scarce and economic advancement was difficult for immigrants.
In 1876, Klimt was awarded a scholarship to the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts (Kunstgewerbeschule
Kunstgewerbeschule
A Kunstgewerbeschule was the old name for an advanced school of applied arts in German-speaking countries. The first such schools were opened in Kassel in 1867 and Berlin and Munich in 1868 with other German towns following. They are now merged into universities....
), where he studied until 1883, and received training as an architectural painter. He revered the foremost history painter of the time, Hans Makart
Hans Makart
Hans Makart was a 19th century Austrian academic history painter, designer, and decorator; most well known for his influence on Gustav Klimt and other Austrian artists, but in his own era considered an important artist himself and was a celebrity figure in the high culture of Vienna, attended with...
. Klimt readily accepted the principles of a conservative training; his early work may be classified as academic. In 1877 his brother Ernst, who, like his father, would become an engraver, also enrolled in the school. The two brothers and their friend Franz Matsch began working together; by 1880 they had received numerous commissions as a team they called the "Company of Artists", and helped their teacher in painting murals in the Kunsthistorisches Museum
Kunsthistorisches Museum
The Kunsthistorisches Museum is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on Ringstraße, it is crowned with an octagonal dome...
in Vienna. Klimt began his professional career painting interior murals and ceilings in large public buildings on the Ringstraße
Ringstraße
The Ringstraße is a circular road surrounding the Innere Stadt district of Vienna, Austria and is one of its main sights...
including a successful series of "Allegories and Emblems".
In 1888, Klimt received the Golden order of Merit from Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria for his contributions to murals painted in the Burgtheater
Burgtheater
The Burgtheater , originally known as K.K. Theater an der Burg, then until 1918 as the K.K. Hofburgtheater, is the Austrian National Theatre in Vienna and one of the most important German language theatres in the world.The Burgtheater was created in 1741 and has become known as "die Burg" by the...
in Vienna. He also became an honorary member of the University of Munich and the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
. In 1892 both Klimt's father and brother Ernst died, and he had to assume financial responsibility for his father's and brother's families. The tragedies affected his artistic vision as well, and soon he would veer toward a new personal style. In the early 1890s, Klimt met Emilie Flöge
Emilie Louise Flöge
Emilie Louise Flöge was an Austrian designer, fashion designer and businesswoman. She was the life companion of the painter Gustav Klimt.- Life and business career :...
, who, notwithstanding the artist's relationships with other women, was to be his companion until the end of his life. Whether his relationship with Flöge was sexual or not is debated, but during that period Klimt fathered at least 14 children.
Vienna secession years
Klimt became one of the founding members and president of the Wiener Sezession (Vienna SecessionVienna Secession
The Vienna Secession was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian artists who had resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists, housed in the Vienna Künstlerhaus. This movement included painters, sculptors, and architects...
) in 1897 and of the group's periodical Ver Sacrum ("Sacred Spring"). He remained with the Secession until 1908. The group's goals were to provide exhibitions for unconventional young artists, to bring the best foreign artists' works to Vienna, and to publish its own magazine to showcase members' work. The group declared no manifesto
Manifesto
A manifesto is a public declaration of principles and intentions, often political in nature. Manifestos relating to religious belief are generally referred to as creeds. Manifestos may also be life stance-related.-Etymology:...
and did not set out to encourage any particular style—Naturalists, Realists
Realism (arts)
Realism in the visual arts and literature refers to the general attempt to depict subjects "in accordance with secular, empirical rules", as they are considered to exist in third person objective reality, without embellishment or interpretation...
, and Symbolists
Symbolism (arts)
Symbolism was a late nineteenth-century art movement of French, Russian and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. In literature, the style had its beginnings with the publication Les Fleurs du mal by Charles Baudelaire...
all coexisted. The government supported their efforts and gave them a lease on public land to erect an exhibition hall. The group's symbol was Pallas Athena, the Greek
Greek mythology
Greek mythology is the body of myths and legends belonging to the ancient Greeks, concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world, and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. They were a part of religion in ancient Greece...
goddess of just causes, wisdom, and the arts—and Klimt painted his radical version in 1898.
In 1894, Klimt was commissioned to create three paintings
Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings
The Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings, also known as the Faculty Paintings, were a series of paintings made by Gustav Klimt for the ceiling of the University of Vienna's Great Hall between the years of 1900-1907. In 1894, Klimt was commissioned to paint the ceiling...
to decorate the ceiling of the Great Hall in the University of Vienna
University of Vienna
The University of Vienna is a public university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world...
. Not completed until the turn of the century, his three paintings, Philosophy, Medicine and Jurisprudence were criticized for their radical themes and material, which was called "pornographic
Pornography
Pornography or porn is the explicit portrayal of sexual subject matter for the purposes of sexual arousal and erotic satisfaction.Pornography may use any of a variety of media, ranging from books, magazines, postcards, photos, sculpture, drawing, painting, animation, sound recording, film, video,...
". Klimt had transformed traditional allegory
Allegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
and symbolism into a new language which was more overtly sexual, and hence more disturbing. The public outcry came from all quarters—political, aesthetic, and religious. As a result, they were not displayed on the ceiling of the Great Hall. This would be the last public commission accepted by the artist. All three paintings were destroyed by retreating SS
Schutzstaffel
The Schutzstaffel |Sig runes]]) was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party. Built upon the Nazi ideology, the SS under Heinrich Himmler's command was responsible for many of the crimes against humanity during World War II...
forces in May 1945. His Nuda Verita (1899) defined his bid to further shake up the establishment. The starkly naked red-headed woman holds the mirror of truth, while above it is a quotation by Schiller
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
in stylized lettering, "If you cannot please everyone with your deeds and your art, please a few. To please many is bad."
Beethoven Frieze
The Beethoven Frieze is a painting by Gustav Klimt.-Description:In 1902, Klimt painted the Beethoven Frieze for the 14th Vienna Secessionist exhibition, which was intended to be a celebration of the composer and featured a monumental polychrome sculpture by Max Klinger. Meant for the exhibition...
for the 14th Vienna Secessionist exhibition, which was intended to be a celebration of the composer and featured a monumental, polychromed sculpture by Max Klinger
Max Klinger
Max Klinger was a German Symbolist painter, sculptor, printmaker, and writer.Klinger was born in Leipzig and studied in Karlsruhe. An admirer of the etchings of Menzel and Goya, he shortly became a skilled and imaginative engraver in his own right. He began creating sculptures in the early 1880s...
. Meant for the exhibition only, the frieze was painted directly on the walls with light materials. After the exhibition the painting was preserved, although it did not go on display until 1986. The face on the Beethoven portrait resembled the composer and Vienna Court Opera director Gustav Mahler, with whom Klimt had a respectful relationship.
During this period Klimt did not confine himself to public commissions. Beginning in the late 1890s he took annual summer holidays with the Flöge family on the shores of Attersee
Attersee (lake)
Attersee is the largest lake of the Salzkammergut area of Austria. It extends for about 20 km from north to south and 4 km from east to west. Its water comes from the Seeache, which flows out of another lake, the Mondsee...
and painted many of his landscapes there. Klimt was largely interested in painting figures; these works constitute the only genre aside from figure-painting which seriously interested Klimt. Klimt's Attersee paintings are of a number and quality so as to merit a separate appreciation. Formally, the landscapes are characterized by the same refinement of design and emphatic patterning as the figural pieces. Deep space in the Attersee works is so efficiently flattened to a single plane, it is believed that Klimt painted them while looking through a telescope.
Golden phase and critical success
Gold leaf
right|thumb|250px|[[Burnishing]] gold leaf with an [[agate]] stone tool, during the water gilding processGold leaf is gold that has been hammered into extremely thin sheets and is often used for gilding. Gold leaf is available in a wide variety of karats and shades...
; the prominent use of gold can first be traced back to Pallas Athene (1898) and Judith I (1901), although the works most popularly associated with this period are the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I is a painting by Gustav Klimt completed in 1907. According to press reports it was sold for US$135 million to Ronald Lauder for his Neue Galerie in New York City in June 2006, which made it at that time the most expensive painting for about 4 months...
(1907) and The Kiss
The Kiss (Klimt painting)
The Kiss was painted by Gustav Klimt, and is probably his most famous work. He began work on it in 1907 and it is the highpoint of his so-called 'Golden Period', when he painted a number of works in a similar style...
(1907–1908). Klimt travelled little but trips to Venice and Ravenna
Ravenna
Ravenna is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy and the second largest comune in Italy by land area, although, at , it is little more than half the size of the largest comune, Rome...
, both famous for their beautiful mosaics, most likely inspired his gold technique and his Byzantine imagery. In 1904, he collaborated with other artists on the lavish Palais Stoclet, the home of a wealthy Belgian industrialist, which was one of the grandest monuments of the Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau
Art Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
age. Klimt's contributions to the dining room, including both Fulfillment and Expectation, were some of his finest decorative work, and as he publicly stated, "probably the ultimate stage of my development of ornament." Between 1907 and 1909, Klimt painted five canvases of society women wrapped in fur. His apparent love of costume is expressed in the many photographs of Flöge modeling clothing he designed.
As he worked and relaxed in his home, Klimt normally wore sandals and a long robe with no undergarments. His simple life was somewhat cloistered, devoted to his art and family and little else except the Secessionist Movement, and he avoided café society and other artists socially. Klimt's fame usually brought patrons to his door, and he could afford to be highly selective. His painting method was very deliberate and painstaking at times and he required lengthy sittings by his subjects. Though very active sexually, he kept his affairs discreet and he avoided personal scandal. James Klimt was the oldest son of Gustav, and continued in art until his passing in 1973.
Klimt wrote little about his vision or his methods. He wrote mostly postcards to Flöge and kept no diary. In a rare writing called "Commentary on a non-existent self-portrait", he states "I have never painted a self-portrait. I am less interested in myself as a subject for a painting than I am in other people, above all women...There is nothing special about me. I am a painter who paints day after day from morning to night...Who ever wants to know something about me... ought to look carefully at my pictures."
Later life and posthumous success
International Exhibition of Art (1911)
International Exhibition of Art was a world's fair held in Rome in 1911 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the unification of Italy in the same year as another world's fair in Turin . It marked the beginnings of the National Roman Museum...
in Rome. In 1915 his mother Anna died. Klimt died three years later in Vienna on February 6, 1918, having suffered a stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
and pneumonia due to the influenza epidemic of 1918. He was buried at the Hietzing
Hietzing
Hietzing is the 13th municipal District of Vienna . It is located west of the central districts, west of Meidling...
Cemetery in Vienna. Numerous paintings were left unfinished.
Klimt's paintings have brought some of the highest prices recorded for individual works of art. In November 2003, Klimt's Landhaus am Attersee sold for $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
29,128,000, but that was soon eclipsed by prices paid for other Klimts.
In 2006, the 1907 portrait, Adele Bloch-Bauer I, was purchased for the Neue Galerie New York by Ronald Lauder
Ronald Lauder
Ronald Steven Lauder is a Jewish-American businessman, civic leader, philanthropist, and art collector. Forbes lists Lauder among the richest people of the world with an estimated net worth of $3.0 billion in 2007.-Life and career:...
for a reported US $135 million, surpassing Picasso's 1905 Boy With a Pipe
Garçon à la pipe
Garçon à la Pipe is a painting by Pablo Picasso. It was painted in 1905 when Picasso was 24 years old, during his Rose Period, soon after he settled in the Montmartre section of Paris, France...
(sold May 5, 2004 for $104 million), as the highest reported price ever paid for a painting. On August 7, 2006, Christie's
Christie's
Christie's is an art business and a fine arts auction house.- History :The official company literature states that founder James Christie conducted the first sale in London, England, on 5 December 1766, and the earliest auction catalogue the company retains is from December 1766...
auction house announced it was handling the sale of the remaining four works by Klimt that were recovered by Maria Altmann
Maria Altmann
Maria Altmann was a Jewish refugee from Nazi Austria, noted for her ultimately successful legal campaign to reclaim five family-owned paintings by the artist Gustav Klimt, stolen by the Nazis during World War II, from the Government of Austria.She was born Maria Victoria Bloch, in Vienna...
and her co-heirs after their long legal battle against Austria (see Republic of Austria v. Altmann
Republic of Austria v. Altmann
Republic of Austria v. Altmann, 541 U.S. 677 , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act applies retroactively...
). Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II
Adele Bloch-Bauer II
Adele Bloch-Bauer II is a 1912 painting by Gustav Klimt. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the wife of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, who was a wealthy industrialist who sponsored the arts and supported Gustav Klimt. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the only model to be painted twice by Klimt; she also appeared in the much more...
was sold at auction in November 2006 for $88 million, the third-highest priced piece of art at auction at the time. The Apple Tree I (ca. 1912) sold for $33 million, Birch Forest (1903) sold for $40.3 million, and Houses in Unterach on Lake Atter (1916) sold for $31 million. Collectively, the five restituted paintings netted over $327 million. A routine Attersee painting fetched $40.4 million at Sotheby's in November 2011.
The city of Vienna, Austria will have many special exhibitions commemorating Klimt's 150th birthday in 2012.
Das Werk Gustav Klimts
The only folio set produced in Klimt's lifetime, Das Werk Gustav Klimts was initially published by H.O. Miethke (of Gallerie Miethke, Klimt's exclusive gallery in Vienna) from 1908 to 1914 in an edition of 300 and was supervised by the artist himself. Fifty images depicting Klimt's most important paintings (1893-1913) were reproduced using collotypeCollotype
Collotype is a dichromate-based photographic process invented by Alphonse Poitevin in 1856. and was used for large volume mechanical printing before the existence of cheaper offset lithography. It can produce results difficult to distinguish from metal-based photographic prints because of its...
lithography, mounted on a heavy, cream-colored wove paper
Wove paper
Wove paper is a writing paper with a uniform surface, not ribbed or watermarked.The papermaking mould's wires run parallel to each other to produce laid paper, but they are woven together into a fine wire mesh for wove paper...
with deckled edges. Thirty-one of the images (ten of which are multicolored) are printed on Chine-collé
Chine-collé
Chine-collé is a special technique in printmaking in which the image is transferred to a surface that is bonded to a heavier support in the printing process. One purpose is to allow the printmaker to print on a much more delicate surface, such as Japanese paper or linen, which pulls finer details...
, while the remaining nineteen are incredibly high quality halftones prints. Each piece was marked with a unique signet - designed by Klimt himself - which was impressed into the wove paper in gold metallic ink. The prints were issued in groups of ten to subscribers, in unbound black paper folders embossed with the artist's name. Due to the delicate nature of collotype lithography, as well as the necessity for multicolored prints (a feat difficult to reproduce with collotypes) and Klimt's own desire for perfection, the series that was published in mid 1908 was not completed until 1914.
Each of the fifty prints were categorized among five themes:
- Allegorical (which included multicolored prints of The Golden Knight, 1903 and The Virgin, c.1912)
- Mythical/Biblical (Pallas Athena, 1898; Judith and The Head of Holofernes, 1901; and Danaë, c.1908)
- Portraits (Emilie Flöge, 1902)
- Erotic-Symbolist (Water Serpents I and II, both c.1907-08 and The Kiss, c.1908)
- Landscapes (The Sunflower, c. 1906.)
The monochrome collotypes as well as the halftone works were printed with a variety of colored inks ranging from sepia, blue, and green.
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I of Austria
Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I was Emperor of Austria, King of Bohemia, King of Croatia, Apostolic King of Hungary, King of Galicia and Lodomeria and Grand Duke of Cracow from 1848 until his death in 1916.In the December of 1848, Emperor Ferdinand I of Austria abdicated the throne as part of...
was the first person to purchase Das Werk Gustav Klimts in 1908.
Fünfundzwanzig Handzeichnungen
Fünfundzwanzig Handzeichnungen was released the year after Klimt's death and collected 25 drawings, many of which were erotic in nature and just as polarizing as his painted works. Published in Vienna in 1919 by Gilhofer & Ranschburg, the edition of 500 features twenty-five monochrome and two-color collotype reproductions nearly indistinguishable from the drawings they originated from. While the set was released a year after Klimt's death, some art historians suspect he was involved with pre-production due to the printing's meticulous nature (Klimt had overseen the production of the plates for Das Werk Gustav Klimts, making sure each one was to his exact specifications, a level of quality carried through in Fünfundzwanzig Handzeichnungen.) The first ten editions contained an original drawing by Klimt as well.Many of the works contained in this volume depict erotic scenes of nude women, some of whom are masturbating alone or are coupled in sapphic
Sapphic
Sapphic can refer to:* Related to Sappho, a 7th century BC poetess** Sapphic stanza, a four line poetic form* Sapphic love, related to female homosexuality...
embraces. When a number of the original drawings were exhibited to the public at Gallerie Miethke in 1910 and the International Exhibition of Prints and Drawings in Vienna in 1913, they were met by critics and viewers who were not shy about their hostility towards Klimt's contemporary perspective. There was an audience for Klimt's erotic drawings however: 15 of his drawings were selected by Viennese poet Franz Blei
Franz Blei
Franz Blei was an essayist, playwright and translator from Vienna...
for his translation of Hellenistic satirist Lucian
Lucian
Lucian of Samosata was a rhetorician and satirist who wrote in the Greek language. He is noted for his witty and scoffing nature.His ethnicity is disputed and is attributed as Assyrian according to Frye and Parpola, and Syrian according to Joseph....
's Dialogues of the Courteseans. The book, limited to 450 copies, provided Klimt the opportunity to show these more lurid depictions of women and avoided censoring thanks to a minute group of affluent (mostly male) audience.
Gustav Klimt An Aftermath
Composed in 1931 by editor Max Eisler and printed by the Austrian State Printing Office, Gustav Klimt An Aftermath was intended to complete the lifetime folio Das Werk Gustav Klimts. The folio contains 30 colored collotypes (fourteen of which are multicolored) and follows a similar structure found in Das Werk Gustav Klimts, replacing the unique Klimt-designed signets with gold-debossed plate numbers. 150 sets were produced in English, with 20 of them (Nos. I-XX) presented as a "gala edition" bound in gilt leather. The set contains detail images from previously released works (Hygeia from the University Mural Medicine, 1901; a section of the third University Mural Jurisprudence, 1903) as well as unfinished paintings (Adam and Eve; Bridal Progress.)Selected works
- University of Vienna Ceiling PaintingsKlimt University of Vienna Ceiling PaintingsThe Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings, also known as the Faculty Paintings, were a series of paintings made by Gustav Klimt for the ceiling of the University of Vienna's Great Hall between the years of 1900-1907. In 1894, Klimt was commissioned to paint the ceiling...
- Palais StocletPalais StocletThe Stoclet Palace is a private mansion built by architect Josef Hoffmann between 1905 and 1911 in Brussels, Belgium, for banker and art lover Adolphe Stoclet. Considered Hoffman's masterpiece, the Stoclet's house is one of the most refined and luxurious private houses of the twentieth century.The...
mosaicMosaicMosaic is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials. It may be a technique of decorative art, an aspect of interior decoration, or of cultural and spiritual significance as in a cathedral...
in Brussels - FableFableA fable is a succinct fictional story, in prose or verse, that features animals, mythical creatures, plants, inanimate objects or forces of nature which are anthropomorphized , and that illustrates a moral lesson , which may at the end be expressed explicitly in a pithy maxim.A fable differs from...
(1883) - Idylle (1884)
- The Theatre in Taormina (1886–1888)
- Auditorium in the Old Burgtheater, Vienna (1888)
- Portrait of Joseph Pembauer, the Pianist and Piano Teacher (1890)
- Ancient Greece II (Girl from Tanagra) (1890–1891)
- Portrait of a Lady (Frau Heymann?) (1894)
- Music I (1895)
- Love (1895)
- Sculpture (1896)
- Tragedy (1897)
- Music II (1898)
- Pallas Athene (1898)
- Flowing water (1898)
- Portrait of Sonja Knips (1898)
- Fish Blood (1898)
- Schubert at the Piano (destroyed)(1899)
- After the Rain (Garden with Chickens in St Agatha) (1899)
- Nymphs (Silver Fish) (1899)
- Mermaids (1899)
- PhilosophyKlimt University of Vienna Ceiling PaintingsThe Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings, also known as the Faculty Paintings, were a series of paintings made by Gustav Klimt for the ceiling of the University of Vienna's Great Hall between the years of 1900-1907. In 1894, Klimt was commissioned to paint the ceiling...
(1899–1907) - Nuda Veritas (1899)
- Portrait of Serena Lederer (1899)
- Medicine (Hygieia) (1900–1907)
- Music (Lithograph) (1901)
- Judith I (1901)
- Buchenwald (Birkenwald) (1901)
- Gold Fish (To my critics) (1901–1902)
- Portrait of Gertha Felsovanyi (1902)
- Portrait of Emilie Flöge (1902)
- Beech Forest (1902)
- Beech Forest I (1902)
- Beethoven FriezeBeethoven FriezeThe Beethoven Frieze is a painting by Gustav Klimt.-Description:In 1902, Klimt painted the Beethoven Frieze for the 14th Vienna Secessionist exhibition, which was intended to be a celebration of the composer and featured a monumental polychrome sculpture by Max Klinger. Meant for the exhibition...
(1902) - Beech woods (1903)
- Hope (1903)
- Pear Tree (1903)
- Life is a struggle(1903)
- JurisprudenceKlimt University of Vienna Ceiling PaintingsThe Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings, also known as the Faculty Paintings, were a series of paintings made by Gustav Klimt for the ceiling of the University of Vienna's Great Hall between the years of 1900-1907. In 1894, Klimt was commissioned to paint the ceiling...
(1903–1907) - Water Serpents I (1904–1907)
- Water Serpents II (1904–1907)
- The Three Ages of Woman (1905)
- Portrait of Margaret Stonborough-WittgensteinMargaret Stonborough-WittgensteinMargarethe "Gretl" Stonborough-Wittgenstein , of the prominent and wealthy Viennese Wittgenstein family, was a sister of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein and the pianist Paul Wittgenstein...
(1905)
- Farm Garden (Flower Garden) (1905–1906)
- Farm Garden with Sunflowers (1905–1906)
- The Stoclet Frieze (1905–1909)
- Portrait of Fritsa Reidler (1906)
- Sunflower (1906–1907)
- Hope II (1907–1908)
- DanaëDanaë (Klimt painting)Danaë is an oil painting by Gustav Klimt, created in 1907. The canvas measures 77 x 83 cm,is cataloged as Symbolism, and is currently housed within the Galerie Würthle in Vienna, Austria...
(1907) - Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer IPortrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer IPortrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I is a painting by Gustav Klimt completed in 1907. According to press reports it was sold for US$135 million to Ronald Lauder for his Neue Galerie in New York City in June 2006, which made it at that time the most expensive painting for about 4 months...
(1907) - Poppy Field (1907)
- Schloss Kammer on the AtterseeAttersee (lake)Attersee is the largest lake of the Salzkammergut area of Austria. It extends for about 20 km from north to south and 4 km from east to west. Its water comes from the Seeache, which flows out of another lake, the Mondsee...
I (1908) - The KissThe Kiss (Klimt painting)The Kiss was painted by Gustav Klimt, and is probably his most famous work. He began work on it in 1907 and it is the highpoint of his so-called 'Golden Period', when he painted a number of works in a similar style...
(1907–1908) - Lady with Hat and Feather Boa (1909)
- The Tree of Life (1909)
- Judith II (Salomé) (1909)
- Black Feather Hat (Lady with Feather Hat) (1910)
- Schloss Kammer on the Attersee III (1910)
- The Park (1910)
- Death and Life (1911)
- Farm Garden with Crucifix (destroyed)(1911–1912)
- Apple Tree (1912)
- Forester's House, WeissenbachWeissenbach-Places:*municipalities in Austria:**Weißenbach am Lech, in Tyrol**Weißenbach an der Enns, in Styria**Weißenbach bei Liezen, in Styria**Gniebing-Weißenbach, in Styria**Weißenbach an der Triesting, in Lower Austria* Weißenbach, a village in northern Italy...
on Lake Attersee (1912) - Portrait of Mada Primavesi (1912)
- Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer IIAdele Bloch-Bauer IIAdele Bloch-Bauer II is a 1912 painting by Gustav Klimt. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the wife of Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, who was a wealthy industrialist who sponsored the arts and supported Gustav Klimt. Adele Bloch-Bauer was the only model to be painted twice by Klimt; she also appeared in the much more...
(1912) - The Virgins (Die Jungfrau) (1913)
- Semi-nude seated, reclining (1913)
- Semi-nude seated, with closed eyes (1913)
- Portrait of Eugenia Primavesi (1913–1914)
- Lovers, drawn from the right (1914)
- Portrait of Elisabeth Bachofen-Echt (1914)
- Semi-nude lying, drawn from the right (1914–1915)
- Portrait of Friederike Maria Beer (1916)
- Houses in Unterach on the Attersee (1916)
- Death and Life (1916)
- Garden Path with Chickens (destroyed)(1916)
- The Girl-Friends (destroyed)(1916–1917)
- Woman seated with thighs apart, drawing (1916–1917)
- The Dancer (1916–1918)
- Leda (destroyed) (1917)
- Portrait of a Lady, en face (1917–1918)
- The Bride (unfinished) (1917–1918)
- Adam and Eve (unfinished) (1917–1918)
- Portrait of Johanna Staude (unfinished) (1917–1918)
Legacy
According to the writer Frank Whitford : " Klimt of course, is an important artist - he's a very popular artist - but in terms of the history of art, he's a very unimportant artist. Although he sums up so much in his work, about the society in which he found himself - in art historical terms his effect was negligible. So he's an artist really in a cul-de-sac."- Klimt's work had a strong influence on the paintings of Egon SchieleEgon SchieleEgon Schiele was an Austrian painter. A protégé of Gustav Klimt, Schiele was a major figurative painter of the early 20th century. His work is noted for its intensity, and the many self-portraits the artist produced...
, whom he would collaborate with to found the Kunsthalle (Hall of Art) in 1917, to try to keep local artists from going abroad. - National Public Radio reported on January 17, 2006 that "The Austrian National Gallery is being compelled by a national arbitration board to return five paintings by Gustav Klimt to a Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
woman, the heir of a Jewish family that had its art stolen by the NazisNazismNazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
. The paintings are estimated to be worth at least $United States dollarThe United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....
150 million." - Klimt's work has spawned many reinterpretations, including the works of SlovakSlovaksThe Slovaks, Slovak people, or Slovakians are a West Slavic people that primarily inhabit Slovakia and speak the Slovak language, which is closely related to the Czech language.Most Slovaks today live within the borders of the independent Slovakia...
artist Rudolf FilaRudolf FilaRudolf Fila is a Slovak painter, educator and author, best known for his artistic reinterpretations of the works of Gustav Klimt...
. - CouturierCouturierA couturier is an establishment or person involved in the clothing fashion industry who makes original garments to order for private clients. A couturier may make what is known as haute couture. Such a person usually hires patternmakers and machinists for garment production, and is either employed...
John GallianoJohn GallianoJohn Charles Galliano CBE, RDI is a Gibraltan-born British fashion designer who was best known as head designer of French haute couture houses Givenchy and Christian Dior , and his own self titled fashion house.-Family:He was born in Gibraltar to a Gibraltarian father, Juan Galliano, and a...
found inspiration for the Christian DiorChristian DiorChristian Dior , was a French fashion designer, best known as the founder of one of the world's top fashion houses, also called Christian Dior.-Life:...
Spring-Summer 2008 haute coutureHaute coutureHaute couture refers to the creation of exclusive custom-fitted clothing. Haute couture is made to order for a specific customer, and it is usually made from high-quality, expensive fabric and sewn with extreme attention to detail and finished by the most experienced and capable seamstresses,...
collection in Klimt's work. - RomaniaRomaniaRomania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n poet Sebastian Reichmann has published in 2008 a book called Mocheta lui Klimt (Klimt's Carpet). As the author says in an interview and even in one of the poems from the book, the title was inspired by a carpet from a train he often attended, carpet that reminded him of Klimt's paintings. Also, the front cover depicts an Art NouveauArt NouveauArt Nouveau is an international philosophy and style of art, architecture and applied art—especially the decorative arts—that were most popular during 1890–1910. The name "Art Nouveau" is French for "new art"...
-styled passage from BucharestBucharestBucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
. - South Korean novelist Kim Young-haKim Young-ha-Early years:Kim was born in Hwacheon. He moved from place to place as a child, since his father was in the military. As a child, he suffered from gas poisoning from coal gas and lost memory before ten. He was educated at Yonsei University in Seoul, majoring business administration, but he didn't...
frequently refers to Klimt, particularly Judith, in his first novel I Have The Right To Destroy Myself. One of the main characters in this novel is referred to by the other characters as Judith because of her resemblance to Klimt's painting and is thus also known primarily as Judith to the reader. - Several of Klimt's most famous works from his golden period inspired a Japanese animation title sequence for the series Elfen LiedElfen Liedis a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Lynn Okamoto. A thirteen-episode anime television series adaptation was produced by the studio ARMS and broadcast on TV Tokyo from July to October 2004. The anime was later licensed in North America on DVD by ADV Films...
, in which the art is recreated to fit with the series' own characters and is arranged as a montage with the song "Lilium". The opening to the anime Sound of the Sky is also largely inspired by Klimt's works.
The Painting Gold Coin
Exhibitions Commemorating Klimt's 150th Birthday in 2012
In addition to the permanent exhibitions on display, the city of Vienna, Austria will celebrate the 150th birthday of Klimt with special exhibitions all over the city. Also, guided walking tours through the city will allow people to see some of the buildings where Klimt worked.See also
- Bride of the WindBride of the WindBride of the Wind is a 2001 period drama directed by Academy Award-nominee Bruce Beresford and written by first-time screenwriter Marilyn Levy. Loosely based on the life of Alma Mahler, Bride of the Wind recounts Alma's marriage to famed composer Gustav Mahler and her romantic exploits...
(biopic) - Klimt (film)Klimt (film)Klimt is a 2006 Austrian art-house biographical film about the life of the Austrian Symbolist painter Gustav Klimt . It was written and directed by Raoul Ruiz, with an English screenplay adaptation by Gilbert Adair. The director of photography was Ricardo Aronovich, and the music was composed by...
2006 biographical film - Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling PaintingsKlimt University of Vienna Ceiling PaintingsThe Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings, also known as the Faculty Paintings, were a series of paintings made by Gustav Klimt for the ceiling of the University of Vienna's Great Hall between the years of 1900-1907. In 1894, Klimt was commissioned to paint the ceiling...
- Lost artworksLost artworksLost artworks are original pieces of art that credible sources indicate once existed but that cannot be accounted for in museums or private collections or are known to have been destroyed deliberately or accidentally, or neglected through ignorance and lack of connoisseurship.For lost literary...
- Maria AltmannMaria AltmannMaria Altmann was a Jewish refugee from Nazi Austria, noted for her ultimately successful legal campaign to reclaim five family-owned paintings by the artist Gustav Klimt, stolen by the Nazis during World War II, from the Government of Austria.She was born Maria Victoria Bloch, in Vienna...
- Republic of Austria v. AltmannRepublic of Austria v. AltmannRepublic of Austria v. Altmann, 541 U.S. 677 , was a case in which the Supreme Court of the United States held that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act applies retroactively...
(Bloch-Bauer court case)
Sources
- Hubertus Czernin Die Fälschung: Der Fall Bloch-Bauer und das Werk Gustav Klimts. Czernin Verlag, Vienna 2006. ISBN 3-7076-0000-9
- Carl E. Schorske "Gustav Klimt: Painting and the Crisis of the Liberal Ego" in Fin-de-Siècle Vienna: Politics and CultureFin-de-Siècle Vienna: Politics and CultureFin-de-siècle Vienna: Politics and Culture, written by American cultural historian Carl E. Schorske and published by Knopf in 1980, won the 1981 Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction...
. Vintage Books, 1981. ISBN 0-394-74478-0
External links
- "Adele's Wish" Documentary film on the Bloch-Bauer court case (Republic of Austria v. Altmann)
- Gallery of works by Gustav Klimt at Zeno.org
- Biography of Gustav Klimt Biography of Gustav Klimt
- iKlimt.com
- The Bloch-Bauer court case
- Web Museum Klimt page
- Klimt Film IMDB page
- High resolution Klimt gallery
- Klimt 2012 Exhibitions in Vienna, Austria