Skip to main content

Klimt: from the female portrait to the Beethoven frieze



Gustav Klimt’s works are on display at the Pinacotheque de Paris from 12 February to 21 June 2015. Is it a vast exhibition from the Belvedere Museum in Vienna with over 180 works from Klimt and other artists of the period of the Vienna Secession.

The exhibition, Au Temps de Klimt, La Secession a Vienne (In the Time of Klimt, The Vienna Secession), in partnership with Arthemisia Group and 24 ORE Cultura examines the period at the start of the twentieth century in Vienna, during the Secession, and the birth of Expressionism. It was very much a time of Art Nouveau. Klimt was part of the emerging movement.

It brings together Klimt and other artists, including works of his brothers Ernst and Georg, but Klimt is the main attraction. He is the draw card. The Austrian-born Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) was known for his murals, landscapes, and female figures, as well as his “golden phase” of gilting (gold leaf), and the influence of Japanese art. The Belvedere collection illustrates Klimt’s development from his initial attempts at Historicism to his Secessionist style and Fauve and Schiele influences.

There is a large collection commencing with pieces such as Male Nude (1880), Portrait of Clara Klimt (1883), Portrait of a Lady (1897), Portrait of a young woman’s face (1898), Judith and the Head of Holofernes (1901) – known as Judith I, and Judith II (1909), in which the narrow vertical perspective is Japanese influenced. My favourite work of the 1890s is Portrait of Marie Breunig (1894), in which Klimt paints her skin in life-like tones.

However the piece de resistance is Klimt’s monumental Beethoven Frieze (1902). Originally painting directly on the wall, it has been reconstructed to scale and shown for the first time in France. Seeing it on the wall of the exhibit is an exceptional experience. The frieze is 2.15 metres high (7 feet) and 34.14 metres long (112 feet) in three parts: “The Arts”, “The Paradise Choir” and “The Embracement” titled after Richard Wagner’s interpretation of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (1824). It is one of the most played symphonies, best known for the lyrics “Ode to Joy” – a poem written by Friedrich Schiller in 1785. It is the depiction of the choir in the central panel that is striking, especially for Klimt’s ode to redheads.

Other artists’ works, of the Vienna Secession, on display incude Carl Schuch, Tina Blau, Theodor Hormann, Josef Engelhart, Carl Moll, Max Kurzwell, Gerhard Stocker, Egon Schiele, and Oskar Kokoschka. The exhibit also includes antique crafts, such as furniture, jewelry, and ceramics from artisans of the period, including Adolf Loos, Arthur Strasser, and Josef Hoffmann.

http://www.pinacotheque.com








Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pir-E-Kamil - The Perfect Mentor by Umera Ahmed: book review

The Perfect Mentor pbuh  (2011) is set in Lahore and Islamabad in Pakistan. The novel commences with Imama Mubeen in medical university. She wants to be an eye specialist. Her parents have arranged for her to marry her first cousin Asjad. Salar Sikander, her neighbour, is 18 years old with an IQ of 150+ and a photographic memory. He has long hair tied in a ponytail. He imbibes alcohol, treats women disrespectfully and is generally a “weird chap” and a rude, belligerent teenager. In the past three years he has tried to commit suicide three times. He tries again. Imama and her brother, Waseem, answer the servant’s call to help Salar. They stop the bleeding from his wrist and save his life. Imama and Asjad have been engaged for three years, because she wants to finish her studies first. Imama is really delaying her marriage to Asjad because she loves Jalal Ansar. She proposes to him and he says yes. But he knows his parents won’t agree, nor will Imama’s parents. That
1 comment
Read more

Flaws in the Glass, a self-portrait by Patrick White: book review

The manuscript, Flaws in the Glass (1981), is Patrick Victor Martindale White’s autobiography. White, born in 1912 in England, migrated to Sydney, Australia, when he was six months old. For three years, at the age of 20, he studied French and German literature at King’s College at the University of Cambridge in England. Throughout his life, he published 12 novels. In 1957 he won the inaugural Miles Franklin Literary Award for Voss, published in 1956. In 1961, Riders in the Chariot became a best-seller, winning the Miles Franklin Literary Award. In 1973, he was the first Australian author to be awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature for The Eye of the Storm, despite many critics describing his works as ‘un-Australian’ and himself as ‘Australia’s most unreadable novelist.’ In 1979, The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but he withdrew it from the competition to give younger writers the opportunity to win the award. His autobiography, Flaws in the Glass
Post a Comment
Read more

Sister cities discussed: Canberra and Islamabad

Two months ago, in March 2015, Australia and Pakistan agreed to explore ways to deepen ties. The relationship between Australia and Pakistan has been strong for decades, and the two countries continue to keep dialogues open. The annual bilateral discussions were held in Australia in March to continue engagements on a wide range of matters of mutual interest. The Pakistan delegation discussed points of interest will include sports, agriculture, economic growth, trade, border protection, business, and education. The possible twinning of the cities of Canberra, the capital of Australia, and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, were also on the agenda (i.e. called twin towns or sister cities). Sister City relationships are twinning arrangements that build friendships as well as government, business, culture, and community linkages. Canberra currently has international Sister City relationships with Beijing in China and Nara in Japan. One example of existing
1 comment
Read more