This Gustav Klimt biography covers many important aspects of the artist’s life. This article will discuss how his early works were more decorative than realistic, his relationship with Emilie Floge and Hans Makart, and his rejection of earlier naturalistic styles. Hopefully, this article will be of interest to all Klimt fans and collectors. And it will also give you some background on Klimt’s career.
Klimt’s early works were decorative
Gustav Klimt’s early works were mostly decorative, like The Kiss, completed in 1908. It depicts a man and a woman in a patch of flowers. The painting’s flattened perspective was partially inspired by Byzantine frescoes in Ravenna, Italy. Klimt also drew inspiration from Japanese prints. One of his most famous works, The Kiss, is widely reproduced today – it’s featured on coffee cups, magnets, and posters. The painting is also included in the Upper Belvedere Museum in Vienna. Its 72-inch square format is unusual for a Klimt painting, and reproductions of it often crop out the face of Klimt, which obscures the delicate balance of the heavenly realm the artist envisioned.
The opulent textiles that Klimt used in The Kiss were inspired by a dressmaker, Emilie Floege, Klimt’s lifelong friend and the chief couturier in Vienna. Klimt’s early works were largely decorative in nature, but he dedicated more time to portraiture after the second Kunstschau in 1909. His style became simpler and lacked ornamental effects, and his style reflected his influence from Egon Schiele’s art.
Klimt’s relationship with Emilie Floge
Gustav Klimt’s relationship with Emilia Floge is a puzzling one. While Klimt had 14 other relationships, Emilie Floge was his muse. She inspired many of his works, including the famous The Kiss. But her importance is often overlooked. In this article, we’ll discuss how she influenced Klimt’s work.
A defining characteristic of Klimt’s work is its ability to straddle antitheses. It straddles the lines of representation and decorative art, self-gratification and viewer gratification. A magisterial portrait of Emilie, from 1902, is one of the highlights of the show. The artist’s use of gold patterning pulls the surface away from Emilie’s body, while the portrait itself pushes the viewer’s gaze.
Klimt’s relationship with Hans Makart
The connection between Gustav Klimt and the Secession dates back to the early 1890s. Klimt was a founding member of the group and helped establish the Wiener Werkstatte. Although Klimt believed that the highest goal of art was to create grand allegorical canvases, he was a relatively private artist who mostly specialized in painting portraits of high society women. Despite his lack of public exposure, Klimt eventually returned to his leadership role, serving as an integral part of the 1908 and 1909 Kunstschauen exhibitions.
The relationship between Klimt and Hans Makart is quite interesting. They were both Austrian, and they had a lot in common, including an interest in pageantry and dramatic light. They even had a mutual admiration for each other’s works. Makart’s portraits of famous celebrities, such as the late Princess Elizabeth and Lady Diana, were sold for $135 million dollars a century after they were created.
Klimt’s rejection of earlier naturalistic styles
In the 1880s, Klimt was influenced by the avant-garde Vienna group known as the Secession, whose members rejected traditional classical art. These artists exhibited a more decorative approach and a more experimental style than their earlier naturalistic counterparts. In addition to rejecting the more traditional style, the Vienna Sezession favored young, non-conventional artists.
The death of Klimt’s father and brother forced him to take financial responsibility for the families, and he began to question the conventions of academic painting. After losing his brother, Klimt broke with the Kunstlerhaus and dissolved his partnership with the group. By 1897, Klimt had already rejected earlier naturalistic styles and started experimenting with symbolism and other idiosyncratic styles.
Klimt’s personal tragedy
Many commentators have noted that the personal tragedy of Klimt’s paintings is often psycho-sexual in nature. Freud would interpret the nude male figure as phallic, and the octopus tentacles as representative of the male genitals. Klimt’s genitals, however, are obscured by the octopus’ arrangement, which turns them away from the viewer. Klimt may have been castrated, or the female Furies played a role in his internal crisis.
The tragic death of his father and brother forced Klimt to take on more financial responsibility for his family. These tragedies influenced Klimt’s art, which shifted away from the classical style of the time. While his art drew heavily from classical literature, it was not purely based on this source. It also explored the female body. Klimt’s paintings included the symbol Nuda Veritas in many of them.
