The Austrian Identity Of Gustav Klimt's Art

Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. He was born in Baumgarten, near Vienna, and is renowned for his portraits of women, which are characterised by a frank eroticism. Klimt's mastery of drawing was immediately evident and he quickly found success, receiving commissions to paint murals in public buildings. He was awarded the Golden Order of Merit for his work on the Burgtheater, Vienna's German-language theatre. Klimt's most famous works include The Kiss and Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I.

Klimt was born in Baumgarten, near Vienna, in 1862

Gustav Klimt was born in Baumgarten, near Vienna, in 1862. At the time, the area was part of the Austrian Empire. Klimt was born into a family of seven children, three boys and four girls. His father, Ernst Klimt the Elder, was a gold engraver from Bohemia, and his mother, Anna Klimt (née Finster), had ambitions to become a musical performer.

Klimt's family lived in poverty during his childhood. Work was scarce, and the family struggled financially as immigrants. Despite this, all three sons showed early artistic talent. Klimt and his brother, Ernst, attended Vienna's School of Applied Arts (now the University of Applied Arts Vienna). Klimt studied architectural painting from 1876 until 1883, and his talent for drawing was immediately evident. He began his career painting interior murals and ceilings in large public buildings on the Ringstraße, including a successful series of "Allegories and Emblems".

Klimt's most famous works include paintings, murals, sketches, and other objets d'art. He is renowned for his portraits of women, often featuring erotic and sensual themes. His most famous paintings include "The Kiss" and "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I", also known as "The Woman in Gold". Klimt's work was influenced by Japanese art and his travels to Italy, particularly the Byzantine mosaics he saw in Venice and Ravenna.

Klimt was a founding member and president of the Vienna Secession movement, which sought to break away from traditional artistic modes and embrace new forms of expression. He died in Vienna in 1918 and was buried at the Hietzinger Cemetery in the city.

He studied at Vienna's School of Applied Arts

Gustav Klimt studied at the Vienna School of Applied Arts (now the University of Applied Arts Vienna) from 1876 until 1883. He lived in poverty while attending the school, where he studied architectural painting. Klimt's brother, Ernst, also enrolled in the school in 1877, and the two brothers began working together, along with their friend, Franz Matsch. By 1880, the trio had received numerous commissions as a team, which they called the "Company of Artists". They also helped their teacher paint murals in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.

Klimt accepted the principles of conservative training, and his early work may be classified as academic. He was a successful painter of architectural decorations in a conventional manner. However, as he began to develop a more personal style, his work became more controversial.

Klimt's time at the Vienna School of Applied Arts was formative for his career as an artist. He honed his technical skills and made important connections with other artists, including his brother and Matsch. The school also exposed him to mural painting, which would become an important part of his oeuvre.

Klimt was a founding member of the Vienna Secession movement

Gustav Klimt was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. In 1897, Klimt and a group of progressive artists rebelled and founded the Vienna Secession movement. A Roman phrase, Secession means "revolt against ruling powers". Klimt became the group's first president and guiding spirit.

The Vienna Secession was closely related to Art Nouveau and was formed by a group of Austrian painters, graphic artists, sculptors, and architects. They resigned from the Association of Austrian Artists in protest against its support for more traditional artistic styles. Their most influential architectural work was the Secession exhibitions hall designed by Joseph Maria Olbrich as a venue for expositions of the group. Their official magazine was called Ver Sacrum (Latin for "Sacred Spring"), which published highly stylised and influential works of graphic art.

Klimt, along with other founding members, wanted to establish contact and an exchange of ideas with artists outside Austria, dispute artistic nationalism, renew the decorative arts, and create a "total art" that unified painting, architecture, and the decorative arts. They also wanted to oppose the domination of the official Vienna Academy of Arts, the Vienna Künstlerhaus, and official art salons, with their traditional orientation toward Historicism.

The Vienna Secession took its name and inspiration from the Munich Secession movement, founded in 1892. The goals of the new movement in Vienna were expressed by the literary critic Hermann Bahr in the first issue of the group's new journal, Ver Sacrum. Bahr wrote:

> "Our art is not a combat of modern artists against those of the past, but the promotion of the arts against the peddlers who pose as artists and who have a commercial interest in not letting art bloom. The choice between commerce and art is the issue at stake in our Secession. It is not a debate over aesthetics, but a confrontation between two different spiritual states."

Klimt and the other founding members of the Vienna Secession sought to synthesise the arts and create a place to exhibit their new works. They wanted to embrace the new modernist styles that were budding in the rest of Europe, rather than recycle classical styles. This led to the construction of a new exhibition hall for the Vienna Secession, built by Joseph Olbrich, with the motto: "To every age its art, to every art its freedom".

Klimt's work as part of the Vienna Secession became even more lush, ornamental, and laden with symbols. His portraits took on an other-worldly quality, as if in a dream, due to his use of gold leaf. Klimt's work entered what is termed the Golden Period, which lasted the rest of his life.

He was awarded the Golden Order of Merit for his work at the Burgtheater

Gustav Klimt, born in 1862 in Baumgarten, near Vienna, was an Austrian symbolist painter and one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. He was renowned for his paintings, murals, sketches, and objets d'art, with his primary subject being the female body. Klimt's work was often marked by eroticism and his distinctive use of gold leaf.

In 1886, Klimt received his first significant commission at the Burgtheater, Vienna's German-language theatre. Klimt and his brother, Ernst Klimt, decorated the ceiling and staircase of the theatre. For his contributions to these murals, Klimt was awarded the Golden Order of Merit by Emperor Franz Joseph I of Austria.

The Burgtheater, inaugurated in 1741, is considered one of the most important German-speaking theatres worldwide. Between 1886 and 1888, Klimt created impressive ceiling paintings in both stairwells of the theatre. In the gala stairwell, Klimt recreated the theatre of antiquity in Taormina, Sicily. The stairwell on the "Volksgarten" side depicts the London Globe Theatre and the final scene from Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." Klimt also included a self-portrait in the background of this work, making it his only known self-portrait.

Emperor Franz Joseph was delighted with the paintings and bestowed the Golden Order of Merit on the members of the artists' group. This included Klimt, his brother Ernst, and artist Franz Matsch. Klimt's work at the Burgtheater was an important milestone in his career and helped establish him as a prominent artist in Vienna.

In addition to the Burgtheater, Klimt also painted murals in other notable locations, such as the Kunsthistorisches Museum and the University of Vienna. However, his work at the University of Vienna caused controversy, as his paintings were deemed pornographic by critics. As a result, Klimt decided to no longer accept public commissions and instead focused on his "golden phase," which brought him new success.

Klimt's most famous painting is The Kiss

Gustav Klimt was an Austrian painter, born in 1862 in Braumgarten, near Vienna. He is renowned for his portraits of women, which are often described as intoxicating and sensual. Klimt's primary subject was the female body, and his works are marked by a frank eroticism.

Klimt's most famous painting is 'The Kiss', which was painted between 1907 and 1908. It is considered a masterpiece of Vienna Secession and probably Klimt's most important work. The painting depicts a couple embracing, their bodies entwined in elaborate robes decorated in a style influenced by the contemporary Art Nouveau movement and the earlier Arts and Crafts movement. The painting is also a reflection of Klimt's interest in Byzantine art, with its use of gold leaf recalling medieval gold-ground paintings and illuminated manuscripts.

'The Kiss' is an oil-on-canvas painting with added gold leaf, silver, and platinum. The painting now hangs in the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere museum in the Upper Belvedere Palace in Vienna, where it is a major attraction. Klimt painted 'The Kiss' at a critical moment in his career, following scathing criticism of his previous works for the University of Vienna, which were deemed pornographic. Despite this setback, 'The Kiss' was enthusiastically received and purchased by the Austrian government while it was still unfinished.

The painting is thought to be an image of Klimt and his long-term companion, Emilie Flöge, as lovers. Klimt and Flöge maintained a 27-year intimacy, and she is reputedly the model for 'The Kiss' and other paintings. However, their relationship may not have been romantic, and they may have just had an emotional or intellectual connection.

Measuring 72 inches by 72 inches, 'The Kiss' is an oversized painting that makes a powerful impression. The two figures, wrapped in gold, stand out from the wall in a life-size embrace. The dominant male force is signified by the powerful coat of masculine black and grey blocks, while the female energy is depicted through spinning circles of bright floral motifs and upward-flowing wavy lines. The triangular fronds also recall water imagery from Klimt's other paintings, such as 'Water Serpents'.

Through 'The Kiss', Klimt evokes a moment of intense sensual pleasure within a sharply stylized and flattened composition. The man's face is not shown, as his head is bent downward to kiss the woman, while her eyes are closed, adding to the sense of intimacy. The absence of eyes also means the viewer cannot fully glimpse their intimacy. The painting is a celebration of love, set in a speckled golden haze, with the couple locked in a tight embrace, enveloped by golden light.

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