Gustav Klimt: Synthesis of Traditional and Modern

 

During Klimt's early years as a painter, 1880 to 1890, for the most part he adapted the style of Hans Makart, and was not particularly individual in his style. First signs of a more personal style became evident in his painting of the ceiling of the Burgtheatre. The painting was flat, very ornate and decorated, and made us of thick, dominant lines. This new style began as a mixture of several European styles of the time, with its roots in the Viennese tradition that Klimt had become an expert. At this point Klimt was by no means near the synthesis of modern and traditional, but the initial signs were there. More signs of change are evident in his decoration of the Great Staircase of the Art History Museum of Vienna. Even though this was a public commission, Klimt and his partners avoided the traditional didactic style of ceiling paintings.

Love

1892 marked a large change in Klimt's style. It was the year both his father and brother, Ernst, died. He was eager to be influence. He wanted to do what his Secession would do five years later- become familiar with foreign art. During this period before the founding of the Secession, Klimt for the first time began to mix the old with the new. In a few small paintings, Joseph Lewinsky in Carlos and Love, he blended stylization, the use of unfamiliar elements in realistic paintings, with naturalism. While the focus of the painting is two people kissing- a natural thing- looming over them are very unnatural ghouls. The border of the painting also blends stylism and naturalism, by having thick gold plates surrounding the painting, an unnatural element, but along the plates are flowers, obviously natural. By 1898, the didactic and narrative elements of Klimt's paintings were almost entirely absent. Klimt also continued to take elements from several different styles of painting. An example of this is his 1898 painting, Schubert at the Piano, which had impressionistic elements. During this time Klimt was also being influenced by the German Secession painter Franz von Stuck (1863-1928), who often mixed the erotic with the demonic, something Klimt would begin to do.

Judith 1

In 1901, Klimt created his first successful portrait of a woman; Judith I. This rather sexual painting helps one understand Klimt's view towards women. As he would with several later female portraits, Klimt surrounds Judith with gold- a possible tribute to women. It captures both the regality and pristine qualities of women through her posture and surroundings, but at the same time Klimt demonstrates woman's nearing emancipation and freedom through her nakedness and highly seductive facial expression. Klimt through several other female portraits would convey his understanding of Viennese life for women at the time.

At the same time Klimt's style continued to develop. In 1902, he exhibited the Beethoven Frieze, a thirty-meter long work, which further displayed his ability to synthesize several styles together in order to create an original feeling. In this case, Klimt was heavily influenced by the Dutch artist Jan Toorop (1858-1928) in that he used definite lines in this painting more than he had ever before. He also continued to be influenced by Stuck. In the Beethoven Frieze, the mixing of the erotic and demonic is very apparent. In one section, three naked women stand, but behind them ghouls and skeletal figures loom over them.

Expectation

It was in 1905 that Klimt fully developed the style of which he is famous for. Although decoration had always been present in his work, it now dominated his style. Beyond this the ornamentation was no easily recognizable, in fact it was often very abstract. It began with a private commission Klimt did for the Belgian industrialist Adolphe Stoclet. It consisted of nine panels, several of which were purely ornamental- no humans, just designs consisting of squares, spiraling twirls, and upside down triangles. The untitled panel known as Stocletfrieze, is a perfect example of this. The most famous panel from the Stoclet Frieze is Expectation. Surrounded by the Tree of Life- a rather abstract background consisting of twisting spirals barely recognizable as a tree- is a woman, who is only identifiable as a human by her face. Her attire, composed of triangles the same color as the tree, blends in with the background. Klimt had fully reached his mature stage as an artist. He was using lines and colors to their fullest and not letting use of space hold him back by making the background as important as the subject.

Also in 1905, Klimt displayed his Portrait of Fritza Riedler. Here, elements of traditional portrait painting and a modern style that Klimt created himself are more apparent than ever. The face of Riedler is realistic and natural, but realism in the painting ends there. Her garb, a white dress, flows and extends all the way to the bottom of the painting, continuing after that; clearly longer and fluffier than a real dress would be. The use of abstract decoration is evident in the sofa that Riedler sits on. Barely recognizable as a piece of furniture, this white sofa is covered in eye shaped ovals. Had Riedler been removed from the painting, the painting of just the couch could clearly be considered a piece of abstract art.

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer

In the Portrait of Fritza Riedler Klimt successfully blends traditional portrait painting with modern art, but succeeds even more in the 1907 Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer. Once again, other than the face and arms, the painting is purely abstract. The painting seems to be a tribute to the color of gold. Edward Pötzl, an art critic and one of Klimt's principle enemies, actually describes the painting quite well in his criticism of it. He explains how Klimt is "the master of an extraordinary developed technique. And what does he use it for? In order to paint a mixture of peacocks' tails, mother of pearls, silverscabs, tinsel and snails' pathsŠ sometimes there is a bit of human face or body thrown in, sometimes not." (7) The background of this painting, a splotching of gold paint, contrasts interestingly with the gold designs of the subject's dress, almost overwhelms the eye. Also in 1907, Klimt exhibited his most famous work, The Kiss. The painting depicts a couple kissing, kneeling on a bed of very colorful flowers, just at the edge of a cliff. The style of this piece is similar to that of the portraits- a rather abstract background of not very easily identifiable elements. The couple represented Klimt himself with his lover, whom he never married, Emilie Flöge.

Death and Life

With his style now fully defined, Klimt began to expand even further, emphasizing color more and more. A prime example of this is the 1908 painting, Death and Life. The painting depicts two entities. On the right is a conglomeration of humans, babies, adults, and elders, mixed together embracing each other. Waiting for them on the left is death, who has a skull for a head, and is wearing a long blue cloak primarily composed of crosses. This painting is not particularly abstract, but is very powerful. Its power is caused by the contrasting colors of opposing sides. Death is a deep mix of blue and black, while life is primarily light flesh tones and bright red and orange garments. It should also be mentioned that originally the background was gold, but was changed to a dark blue in 1916.

Portrait of Friedericke Maria Beer

Two other works that display Klimt's use of color are the Portrait of Friedericke Maria Beer and The Virgin. The latter, produced in 1912, was a huge mesh of color, similar to the mass of humans in Death and Life. The Portrait of Maria Beer, exhibited in 1916, similarly is a giant mess of colors. Although it is a portrait, Beer is surrounded by colorful little oriental men, once again showing Klimt's desire to be influenced. The figures were adapted from a Korean vase Klimt owned. These two paintings unite traditional and modern in a different way than Klimt's earlier works. While the face still remains the only realistic portion of the painting, the surroundings are now identifiable, but the mixture of color and crowdedness of the background creates an abstract effect by making everything difficult to identify.

By this point in Klimt's career, near the very end of his life, he was as complete an artist that he could ever hope to be. Not only had he established himself as Austria's premiere artist, but he was conscious of protecting artistic freedom, founded the Secession, and promoted young artists. But most importantly Klimt helped build the bridge from the old to new, merging the traditional with the modern.

 

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