Gustav Klimt and the Portrait of Adele BlochBauer

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Gustav Klimt

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license. It uses materialretrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Klimt on 2010-12-18.

CONTENTS

Life and work

Early life and education

Vienna secession years

Golden phase and critical success

Later life and posthumous successStyle and recurring themes

Gallery

Selected works

Legacy

The Painting Gold CoinSee also

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References

Sources

External links

Gustav KlimtFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation , search

Gustav Klimt Gustav Klimt, 1908. Photo by Dora Kallmus.

Birth name Gustav Klimt

BornJuly 14, 1862 Baumgarten, Austrian Empire

DiedFebruary 6, 1918(1918-02-06) (aged 55) Vienna, Austria-Hungary

Nationality Imperial AustrianField Painter

Movement Symbolism, Art NouveauWorks Judith and the Head of Holofernes, Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, The Kiss, Danaë

Influenced Egon Schiele

Gustav Klimt (July 14, 1862 � February 6, 1918) was an Austrian Symbolist painter and one of the mostprominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. His major works include paintings, murals,sketches, and other art objects. Klimt's primary subject was the female body,[1] and his works are marked by afrank eroticism�nowhere is this more apparent than in his numerous drawings in pencil (see Mulher sentada,below).[2]

Life and work

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Early life and education

Gustav Klimt was born in Baumgarten, near Vienna, the second of seven children � three boys and four girls.[3] All three sons displayed artistic talent early on. His father, Ernst Klimt, formerly from Bohemia, was a goldengraver.[4] Ernst married Anna Klimt (née Finster), whose unrealized ambition was to be a musicalperformer. Klimt lived in poverty for most of his childhood, as work was scarce and economic advancementwas 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.[4] He revered the foremosthistory painter of the time, Hans Makart. Klimt readily accepted the principles of a conservative training; hisearly work may be classified as academic.[4] In 1877 his brother Ernst, who, like his father, would become anengraver, 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", andhelped their teacher in painting murals in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.[4] Klimt began hisprofessional career painting interior murals and ceilings in large public buildings on the Ringstraße including asuccessful series of "Allegories and Emblems".

In 1888, Klimt received the Golden order of Merit from Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria for his contributionsto murals painted in the Burgtheater in Vienna.[4] He also became an honorary member of the University ofMunich and the University of Vienna. In 1892 both Klimt's father and brother Ernst died, and he had toassume financial responsibility for his father's and brother's families. The tragedies affected his artistic visionas 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 hislife. Whether his relationship with Flöge was sexual or not is debated, but during that period Klimt fathered atleast 14 children.[5]

Vienna secession years

A section of the Beethoven Frieze

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Klimt became one of the founding members and president of the Wiener Sezession (Vienna Secession) in1897 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 foreignartists' works to Vienna, and to publish its own magazine to showcase members' work.[6] The group declaredno manifesto and did not set out to encourage any particular style -- Naturalists, Realists, and Symbolists allcoexisted. The government supported their efforts and gave them a lease on public land to erect an exhibitionhall. The group's symbol was Pallas Athena, the Greek goddess of just causes, wisdom, and the arts�andKlimt painted his radical version in 1898.

In 1894, Klimt was commissioned to create three paintings to decorate the ceiling of the Great Hall in theUniversity of Vienna. Not completed until the turn of the century, his three paintings, Philosophy, Medicineand Jurisprudence were criticized for their radical themes and material, which was called "pornographic".[7]

Klimt had transformed traditional allegory and symbolism into a new language which was more overtlysexual, and hence more disturbing.[7] The public outcry came from all quarters � political, aesthetic, andreligious. As a result, they were not displayed on the ceiling of the Great Hall. This would be the last publiccommission 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-headedwoman holds the mirror of truth, while above it is a quotation by Schiller in stylized lettering, "If you cannotplease everyone with your deeds and your art, please a few. To please many is bad."[8]

In 1902, Klimt finished the Beethoven Frieze for the 14th Vienna Secessionist exhibition, which was intendedto 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 theexhibition the painting was preserved, although it did not go on display until 1986.

During this period Klimt did not confine himself to public commissions. Beginning in the late 1890s he tookannual summer holidays with the Flöge family on the shores of Attersee and painted many of his landscapesthere. Klimt was largely interested in painting figures; these works constitute the only genre aside fromfigure-painting which seriously interested Klimt.[9] Klimt's Attersee paintings are of a number and quality so asto merit a separate appreciation. Formally, the landscapes are characterized by the same refinement ofdesign and emphatic patterning as the figural pieces. Deep space in the Attersee works is so efficientlyflattened to a single plane, it is believed that Klimt painted them while looking through a telescope.[10]

Golden phase and critical success

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The Kiss 1907�1908. Oil on canvas. Österreichische Galerie Belvedere.

Klimt's 'Golden Phase' was marked by positive critical reaction and success. Many of his paintings from thisperiod 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 theirbeautiful mosaics, most likely inspired his gold technique and his Byzantine imagery. In 1904, he collaboratedwith other artists on the lavish Palais Stoclet, the home of a wealthy Belgian industrialist, which was one ofthe grandest monuments of the Art Nouveau age. Klimt's contributions to the dining room, including bothFulfillment and Expectation, were some of his finest decorative work, and as he publicly stated, "probably theultimate stage of my development of ornament."[11] Between 1907 and 1909, Klimt painted five canvases ofsociety women wrapped in fur. His apparent love of costume is expressed in the many photographs of Flögemodeling 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 SecessionistMovement, and he avoided café society and other artists socially. Klimt's fame usually brought patrons to hisdoor, and he could afford to be highly selective. His painting method was very deliberate and painstaking attimes and he required lengthy sittings by his subjects. Though very active sexually, he kept his affairsdiscreet and he avoided personal scandal.

Klimt wrote little about his vision or his methods. He wrote mostly postcards to Flöge and kept no diary. In arare writing called "Commentary on a non-existent self-portrait", he states "I have never painted aself-portrait. I am less interested in myself as a subject for a painting than I am in other people, above allwomen...There is nothing special about me. I am a painter who paints day after day from morning tonight...Who ever wants to know something about me... ought to look carefully at my pictures."[12]

Later life and posthumous success

Adele Bloch-Bauer I , which sold for a record $135 million in 2006. Neue Galerie, New York.

In 1911 his painting Death and Life received first prize in the world exhibitions in Rome. In 1915 his motherAnna died. Klimt died three years later in Vienna on February 6, 1918, having suffered a stroke and

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pneumonia due to the influenza epidemic of 1918. [13][14][15] 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 November2003, Klimt's Landhaus am Attersee sold for $29,128,000,[16] but that was soon eclipsed by prices paid forother Klimts.

In 2006, the 1907 portrait, Adele Bloch-Bauer I, was purchased for the Neue Galerie in New York by RonaldLauder 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 auctionhouse announced it was handling the sale of the remaining four works by Klimt that were recovered by MariaAltmann 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 pricedpiece of art at auction at the time.[17] 'The Apple Tree I' (ca. 1912) sold for $33 million, 'Birch Forest' (1903)sold for $40.3 million,[18] and 'Houses in Unterach on Lake Atter' (1916) sold for $31 million. Collectively, thefive restituted paintings netted over $327 million.[19]

Style and recurring themes

Klimt's work is often distinguished by elegant gold or coloured decoration, spirals and swirls, and phallicshapes used to conceal the more erotic positions of the drawings upon which many of his paintings arebased. This can be seen in Judith I (1901), and in The Kiss (1907�1908), and especially in Danaë (1907).One of the most common themes Klimt used was that of the dominant woman, the femme fatale.

Art historians note an eclectic range of influences contributing to Klimt's distinct style, including Egyptian,Minoan, Classical Greek, and Byzantine inspirations. Klimt was also inspired by the engravings of AlbrechtDürer, late medieval European painting, and Japanese Rimpa school. His mature works are characterized bya rejection of earlier naturalistic styles, and make use of symbols or symbolic elements to conveypsychological ideas and emphasize the "freedom" of art from traditional culture.

Gallery

Judith and theHead of Holofernes, 1901.Belvedere, Vienna

Portrait ofHermine Gallia, 1904. NationalGallery, London

The Three Ages of Woman,1905, Galleria Nazionale d'ArteModerna, Rome

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Danaë by Gustav Klimt, painted1907. Private Collection, Vienna

Hope, 1907-1908, Museum ofModern Art

MädaPrimavesi. 1912. Oil oncanvas. 150 × 110 cm.Metropolitan Museum of Art,New York.

Avenue in Schloss KammerPark, 1912. Belvedere, Vienna

Mulher sentada, (1916)

The Friends, 1916-17.

Selected works

• • •

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University of ViennaCeiling Paintings PalaisStoclet mosaic in BrusselsFable (1883) Idylle (1884)The Theatre in Taormina(1886�1888) Auditorium inthe Old Burgtheater,Vienna (1888) Portrait ofJoseph Pembauer, thePianist and PianoTeacher (1890) AncientGreece II (Girl fromTanagra) (1890�1891)Portrait of a Lady (FrauHeymann?) (1894) MusicI (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(1899) After the Rain(Garden with Chickens inSt Agatha) (1899)Nymphs (Silver Fish)(1899) Mermaids (1899)

Philosophy (1899�1907)[20] Nuda Veritas (1899)Portrait of Serena Lederer(1899) Medicine (Hygieia)(1900�1907) Music(Lithograph) (1901) JudithI (1901) Buchenwald(Birkenwald) (1901) GoldFish (To my critics)(1901�1902) Portrait ofGertha Felsovanyi (1902)Portrait of Emilie Flöge(1902) Beech Forest(1902) Beech Forest I(1902) Beethoven Frieze(1902)[21][22] Beech woods(1903) Hope (1903) PearTree (1903) Life is astruggle(1903)Jurisprudence(1903�1907) [23] WaterSerpents I (1904�1907)Water Serpents II(1904�1907) The ThreeAges of Woman (1905)Portrait of MargaretStonborough-Wittgenstein(1905)

Farm Garden (FlowerGarden) (1905�1906)Farm Garden withSunflowers (1905�1906)The Stoclet Frieze(1905�1909) Portrait ofFritsa Reidler (1906)Sunflower (1906�1907)Hope II (1907�1908)Danaë (1907) Portrait ofAdele Bloch-Bauer I(1907) Poppy Field (1907)Schloss Kammer on theAttersee I (1908) The Kiss(1907�1908) Lady withHat and Feather Boa(1909) The Tree of Life(1909) Judith II (Salomé)(1909) Black Feather Hat(Lady with Feather Hat)(1910) Schloss Kammeron the Attersee III (1910)The Park (1910) Deathand Life (1911) FarmGarden with Crucifix(1911�1912) Apple Tree(1912) Forester's House,Weissenbach on LakeAttersee (1912) Portrait ofMada Primavesi (1912)

Portrait of AdeleBloch-Bauer II (1912) TheVirgins (Die Jungfrau)(1913) Semi-nudeseated, reclining (1913)Semi-nude seated, withclosed eyes (1913)Portrait of EugeniaPrimavesi (1913�1914)Lovers, drawn from theright (1914) Portrait ofElisabeth Bachofen-Echt(1914) Semi-nude lying,drawn from the right(1914�1915) Portrait ofFriederike Maria Beer(1916) Houses inUnterach on the Attersee(1916) Death and Life(1916) Garden Path withChickens (1916) TheGirl-Friends (1916�1917)Woman seated withthighs 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 JohannaStaude (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 artistreally in a cul-de-sac." [24]

• Klimt's work had a strong influence on the paintings of Egon Schiele, whom he would collaborate with tofound the Kunsthalle (Hall of Art) in 1917, to try and keep local artists from going abroad.

• National Public Radio reported on January 17, 2006 that "The Austrian National Gallery is being

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compelled by a national arbitration board to return five paintings by Gustav Klimt to a Los Angeleswoman, the heir of a Jewish family that had its art stolen by the Nazis. The paintings are estimated tobe worth at least $150 million."[25]

• Klimt's work has spawned many reinterpretations, including the works of Slovak artist Rudolf Fila. • Couturier John Galliano found inspiration for the Christian Dior Spring-Summer 2008 haute couture

collection in Klimt's work. • Romanian poet Sebastian Reichmann has published in 2008 a book called Mocheta lui Klimt (Klimt's

Carpet). As the author says in an interview[26] and even in one of the poems from the book, the title wasinspired by a carpet from a train he often attended, carpet that reminded him of Klimt's paintings. Also,the front cover depicts an Art Nouveau-styled passage from Bucharest.

• South Korean novelist Kim Young-ha frequently refers to Klimt, particularly Judith, in his first novel IHave The Right To Destroy Myself. One of the main characters in this novel is referred to by the othercharacters as Judith because of her resemblance to Klimt's painting and is thus also known primarily asJudith to the reader.

• Several of Klimt's most famous works from his golden period inspired a Japanese animation titlesequence for the series "Elfen Lied". The works are recreated to fit with the series' own characters andare arranged as a montage with the song "Lilium".

The Painting Gold Coin

The painting coin, featuring Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt and his work have been the subjects of many collector coins and medals. The most recent andprominent one is the famous 100 euro Painting Gold Coin, issued on November 5, 2003. The obverse depictsKlimt in his studio with two unfinished paintings on easels.

See also

• Bride of the Wind (biopic) • Maria Altmann • Republic of Austria v. Altmann (Bloch-Bauer court case)

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References

1. ^ " The most important element of his fame is his reputation as a master of eroticism". Fleidel, Gottfried:"Gustav Klimt 1862-1918 The World in Female Form.", p. 14. Benedikt Taschen, 1994.

2. ^ Sabarsky, Serge, et al., Gustav Klimt: Drawings, p. 18. Moyer Bell Limited, 1983. ISBN 0-918825-19-9

3. ^ Fliedl, Gottfried, page 230, 1994.

4. ^ a b c d e Sabarsky, p. 7.

5. ^ John Collins, Klimt: Modernism In The Making, Harry N. Abrams, 2001, p.99, ISBN 978-0-8109-3524-2

6. ^ Frank Whitford, Klimt, Thames and Hudson, 1990. p.69.

7. ^ a b Sabarsky, p. 9.

8. ^ Frank Whitford Klimt, Thames and Hudson, 1990, p.52.

9. ^ In recognition of his intensity, the locals called him "Waldschrat", Forest Demon. Koja, Stephan, et al.:Gustav Klimt Landscapes, page 27. Prestel, 2002.

10. ^ Anselm Wagner: "Klimt's Landscapes and the Telescope", Gustav Klimt Landscapes, pages 161-171.Prestel, 2002.

11. ^ Frank Whitford Klimt, Thames and Hudson, 1990, p.103

12. ^ Frank Whitford Klimt, Thames and Hudson, 1990, p.18

13. ^ see timeline and life historyRetrieved December 12, 2010

14. ^ Gilles Neret, Gustav Klimt: 1862-1918, Taschen, 1999, p.84. ISBN 3-8228-5980-X

15. ^ Alessandra Comini, Gustav Klimt, George Braziller, 2001, p.5. ISBN 0-8076-0806-8

16. ^ Nina Siegal, DKS.thing.net, Retrieved February 4, 2007.

17. ^ Christopher Michaud, Christie's stages record art sale, Reuter's, November 9, 2006. RetrievedNovember 9, 2006.

18. ^ Kinsella, Eileen: "Gold Rush", Artnews, page 111. January 2007.

19. ^ Kinsella, Eileen, page 112, January 2007.

20. ^ Lamp.ac.uk

21. ^ Ibiblio.org

22. ^ Ibiblio.org

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23. ^ ECFS.org[dead link]

24. ^ Whitford, speaking on The Kiss: The Private Life of a Masterpiece, BBC TV

25. ^ Burbank, Luke Austria to return paintings to Jewish heir, National Public Radio, 17 January 2006.

26. ^ "cartea romaneasca / catalog / carte". Cartearomaneasca.ro.http://www.cartearomaneasca.ro/catalog/carte/mocheta-lui-klimt-71/presa_01.html. Retrieved 2010-02-28.

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 Culture. Vintage Books, 1981. ISBN 0-394-74478-0

• Jane Kallir, Alfred Weidinger: Gustav Klimt. In Search of the Total Artwork. Prestel, New York 2009,ISBN 978-3-7913-4232-0

• Julio Vives Chillida. El Beso (Los Enamorados) de Gustav Klimt. Un Ensayo de Iconografía, Lulu.com,junio de 2008, ISBN 978-1-4092-0530-2.

• Gilles Neret. Gustav Klimt: 1862-1918. Taschen, 1993, 2005. ISBN 978-3-8228-5980-3 • Alfred Weidinger. Klimt. Catalogue Raisonné, Prestel, New York, 2007, ISBN 978-3-7913-3764-7

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gustav Klimt

• "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 (German) • 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

PersondataName Klimt, GustavAlternative names Klimt, GustavShort description Austrian Symbolist painterDate of birth July 14, 1862Place of birth Baumgarten, AustriaDate of death February 6, 1918Place of death Vienna, Austria

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The Kiss (Klimt painting)

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license. It uses materialretrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Kiss_(Klimt_painting) on 2010-12-18.

The Kiss (Klimt painting)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation , search

Artist Gustav KlimtYear 1907-1908Type Oil and gold leaf on canvas

Dimensions 180 cm × 180 cm (70.9 in × 70.9 in)Location Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria

The painting coin featuring "The Kiss"

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The Kiss (original Der Kuss) was painted by Gustav Klimt, and is probably his most famous work. He beganwork on it in 1907 and it is the highpoint of his so-called 'Golden Period'. It depicts a couple, in variousshades of gold and symbols, sharing a kiss against a bronze background.

When he painted The Kiss Klimt was 45 and still lived at home with his mother and two unmarried sisters -but behind the respectable facade he was a man with a ferocious sexual appetite. Klimt fathered at leastthree illegitimate children and probably many more. He was obsessed by women and he had a fixation withredheads. It is no surprise that the woman in The Kiss has red hair. According to writer Frank Whitford:"Together the man and the woman form the shape of an erect penis and I think that is intentional - it's aboutsex and about the fulfillment of sex between a man and a woman." [1]

Two figures are situated at the edge of a flowered escarpment. The man is wearing neutral coloredrectangles and a crown of vines; the woman wears brightly colored tangent circles and flowers in her hair.The couple�s embrace is enveloped by triangular vining and a veil of concentric circles. Similarly juxtaposed couples appear in both Klimt�s Beethoven Frieze and Stoclet Frieze.

In The Kiss, Klimt depicted a couple locked in an embrace. The rest of the painting dissolves intoshimmering, extravagant flat patterning. This patterning has clear ties to Art Nouveau and to the Arts andCrafts movement and also evokes the conflict between two- and three-dimensionality intrinsic to the work ofDegas and other modernists. Paintings such as The Kiss were visual manifestations of fin-de-siecle spiritbecause they capture a decadence conveyed by opulent and sensuous images.

Some think[2] that Klimt and his beloved companion Emilie Flöge modeled for the masterpiece. Anothersuggestion has been that she was a model called 'Red Hilda.' There is strong visual evidence that she is themodel for 'Woman with feather boa' , 'Goldfish' and 'Danaë'. She told her nephew that she was the woman in'The Kiss'. Nothing is certain.

Klimt's use of gold had been hugely influenced by a trip he had made to Italy in 1903. He went to Ravennawhere he saw the Byzantine mosaics in the Church of San Vitale. For Klimt the flatness of the mosaics and

their lack of perspective and depth only enhanced their golden brilliance and he started to makeunprecedented use of gold and silver leaf in his own work. [3]

The Kiss is a discreet expression of Klimt�s emphasis on eroticism and the liberation therein. The Kiss falls inline with Klimt�s exploration of fulfillment and the redeeming, transformative power of love and art.[citation needed]

The Kiss deviates from Klimt�s frequent portrayal of woman as the lascivious femme fatale.

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The piece is currently at the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere museum, which is housed in the Belvederepalace, in Vienna, Austria.

Gustav Klimt and "The Kiss" were selected as the main motif for a collectors' coin, the 100 euro gold ThePainting coin issued on 5 November 2003. The obverse depicts Klimt in his studio with two unfinishedmasterpieces on easels, while the reverse shows "Der Kuss" (The Kiss).

0. 1. ^ Private Life of a Masterpiece, Klimt's The Kiss BBCTV

2. ^ Klimt by Gilles Neret, p. 57

3. ^ Private Life of a Masterpiece, BBC TV

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: The Kiss

• Gustav Klimt at the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere • Der Kuss • The Kiss at 100 • Google books search • The Kiss Klimt Blog Broad collection of articles around The Kiss painting

Klimt 1918

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license. It uses materialretrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klimt_1918 on 2010-12-18.

CONTENTS

Biography

Style

Name

Members

Former members

Discography

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Notes

References

External links

Klimt 1918From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation , search

Klimt 1918

OriginRome, Italy

GenresGothic metal (early material) Alternative rock Indie rock

Years active 1999 � presentLabels Prophecy Productions, My Kingdom Music

Website www.klimt1918.comMembers

Marco Soellner Davide Pesola Paolo Soellner Francesco Conte

Klimt 1918 is an indie/alternative rock band from Rome, Italy.

Biography

Klimt 1918 was started in 1999 by brothers Marco and Paolo Soellner, after the split of their former band,Another Day (a death metal act). Marco's newly discovered love for bands like The Cure, Bauhaus and JoyDivision, led him to incorporate new influences in his songwriting. The next year, after completing the line-upwith bass player Davide Pesola and lead guitarist Francesco Tumbarello, the band released its first effort,Secession Makes Post-Modern Music, which was recorded by Novembre's drummer, Giuseppe Orlando, aclose friend of the band. The demo received good reviews from specialized press and caught the attention ofMy Kingdom Music, a newborn Italian independent label, with which the band signed a deal for two releases.Their debut full-length, Undressed Momento, came out in 2003; during the recording sessions, guitar playerFrancesco Tumbarello left the band, being replaced by Alessandro Pace, a well-known name in Rome'sunderground metal scene and a long time friend of the band. Undressed Momento marked an evolution inKlimt 1918's sound, which became more melodic and emotional, losing part of its metal heritage; the albumreceived critical praise from reviewers all over Europe, and reached the first place in Orkus' Top Chart. Oneyear later, the band signed a new contract with German cult label, Prophecy Productions, and began workingon a new full-length. Dopoguerra was released in 2005 and featured a more mature and personal sound; thealbum was once again praised by both critics and press, and was supported by a European tour, the first forthe band. The band said the album "was recorded during the hot summer 2004, with sound man/producer

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Giuseppe Orlando. The one-month session was long and difficult, but worked out better than anyone couldhave hoped."[1]

Between September and October 2006, guitarist Alessandro Pace left the band and was replaced byFrancesco Conte, who made his live debut with the band on October 21, at Prophecy Productions' 10 yearsfestival.

The long-delayed follow-up to Dopoguerra, called Just In Case We'll Never Meet Again (Soundtrack For TheCassette Generation), was first released in Germany on June 20, 2008, being subsequently releasedworldwide on June 23 and in the U.S.A. on June 24.

In April 2009 the band released its first videoclip Ghost Of A Tape Listener, followed by a vinyl release of JustIn Case We'll Never Meet Again (Soundtrack For The Cassette Generation) and a Ghost Of A Tape ListenerEP featuring a previously unreleased track, "Blackeberg 1981".

Style

Klimt 1918's sound can be described as alternative rock with roots in avant-garde metal, featuring consistentdarkwave and post-rock influences. The resulting blend is a melodic and melancholic guitar-based rock,combining thick shoegaze-like rhythm-guitar riffs with post-rock-esque atmospheres. Their recent output hasconsistently shifted towards indie rock, featuring more emphasis on shoegaze and post-rock traits whileabandoning entirely their former metal influences.

Name

The name "Klimt 1918" is a reference to Gustav Klimt and his year of death, 1918, which also saw the end ofthe First World War. According to Marco Soellner, Klimt 1918's music features the same qualities ofde-contextualization, secession and post-modernism found in Klimt's art. Year 1918 itself, in Marco's words,represents the definitive collapse of "belle epoque" values and a full transition to 20th century.

The name may also be a tribute to Bauhaus, which was originally named "Bauhaus 1919".

Members

Marco Soellner - vocals, guitar Francesco Conte - guitar Davide Pesola - bass Paolo Soellner - drums

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Former members

• Francesco Tumbarello - guitar (2000�2002) • Alessandro Pace - guitar (2002�2006) - Alessandro Pace (born May 20, 1977), better known as Alex

Vega, is an Italian musician and former member of the industrial rock group Dope Stars Inc. and thealternative rock band Klimt 1918. A member of Klimt 1918 from 2002�2006 under his birth name, Paceassumed the name Alex Vega when he joined Dope Stars Inc. in 2005 as a replacement guitarist. Heleft the band in 2007. He founded the band, The Foreshadowing, which signed to Candlelight Recordsin 2007. Alex is also a DJ.

Discography

• Secession Makes Post-Modern Music (self-produced demo, 2000) • Undressed Momento (My Kingdom Music, 2003) • Dopoguerra (Prophecy, 2005)[2][3] • Just in case we'll never meet again (soundtrack for the cassette generation) (Prophecy, June 2008)[4]

Notes

1. ^ Klimt 1918 Myspace

• 2. ^ Dopoguerra at Allmusic

3. ^ Ian Duncan-Brown. "Dopoguerra review". Metalreview.com.http://www.metalreview.com/1511/KLIMT-1918-Dopoguerra.aspx. Retrieved 4 April 2009. [dead link]

• 4. ^ Dr. Pete (2008-06-18). "Just in Case We'll Never Meet Again review". Livingformetal.com.http://www.livingformetal.com/reviews/review.aspx?reviewid=631. Retrieved 4 April 2009.

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References

• Marco Soellner's interview for Ver Sacrum webzine (Italian) • Klimt 1918 at Sputnikmusic.com

External links

• Klimt 1918 Official Website (English) • Klimt 1918 Fansite (Italian) • MySpace Page

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license. It uses materialretrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portrait_of_Adele_Bloch-Bauer_I on 2010-12-18.

CONTENTS

The painting

Ownership of the painting

Film

See also

References

External links

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer IFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation , search

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Artist Gustav KlimtYear 1907Type Oil, silver, and gold on canvas

Dimensions 138 cm × 138 cm (54 in × 54 in)Location Neue Galerie

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I is a painting by Gustav Klimt completed in 1907. According to press reportsit was sold for US$135 million to Ronald Lauder for his Neue Galerie in New York City in June 2006, whichmade it at that time the most expensive painting ever sold.[1] It has been on display at the gallery since July2006.

The painting

Klimt took three years to complete the painting. It measures 138 x 138 cm and is made of oil and gold oncanvas, showing elaborate and complex ornamentation as seen in the Jugendstil style. Klimt was a memberof the Vienna Secession, a group of artists that broke away from the traditional way of painting. The picturewas painted in Vienna and commissioned by Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer.[2] As a wealthy industrialist who hadmade his fortune in the sugar industry, he sponsored the arts and favored and supported Gustav Klimt. AdeleBloch-Bauer became the only model who was painted twice by Klimt when he completed a second picture ofher, Adele Bloch-Bauer II, in 1912.

Ownership of the painting

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Public poster about the ownership change

Adele Bloch-Bauer, in her will, asked her husband to donate the Klimt paintings to the Austrian State Galleryupon his death.[3] She died in 1925 from meningitis. When the Nazis took over Austria, her widowed husbandhad to flee to Switzerland. His property, including the Klimt paintings, was confiscated. In his 1945 testament,Bloch-Bauer designated his nephew and nieces, including Maria Altmann, as the inheritors of his estate.[4]

As Bloch-Bauer's pictures had remained in Austria, the government took the position that the testament ofAdele Bloch-Bauer had determined that these pictures were to stay there. After a protracted court battle inthe United States and in Austria (see Republic of Austria v. Altmann), binding arbitration by the Austrian courtestablished in 2006 that Maria Altmann was the rightful owner of this and four other paintings by Klimt.[5] Afterthe pictures were sent to America, they were on display in Los Angeles in 2006 before the portrait of AdeleBloch-Bauer I was sold to Lauder in June 2006. New York's Neue Galerie is reported to have paid $135million for the fifth looted Klimt portrait, Adele Bloch-Bauer I. Originally, the four additional works by Klimtwere included in the exhibition.

The painting is the centerpiece of Ronald Lauder�s collection, Neue Galerie in New York. This collection hasfor years been in the process of recovering Jewish-owned art, mostly from Germany and Austria, that hadbeen confiscated or looted by the Nazi government. Lauder worked towards this goal while he was the U.S.ambassador to Austria, as a member of the �World Jewish Restitution Organization", and as a member of aClinton commission to examine cases of Nazi looting. Lauder�s comment on the acquisition for his NeueGallerie collection: �This is our Mona Lisa�. [6]

However, in November 2006, Adele Bloch-Bauer II (1912) was sold at auction at Christie's in New Yorkfetching almost $88m. In total the four remaining paintings sold for $192.7 million and the proceeds weredivided up among several heirs. The buyers of those paintings remain anonymous. The wish of MariaAltmann that the these remaining four paintings should be accessible to the general public in a museum hasnot be fulfilled.

Some factions of the art world called Ms. Altmann's decision to sell all of the restituted paintings greedy. NewYork Times chief art critic Michael Kimmelman accused her of "cashing in," and thus transforming a "storyabout justice and redemption after the Holocaust" into "yet another tale of the crazy, intoxicating art market."Kimmelman argued that the family should give the works away, perhaps giving them to public institutions.[7]

Film

Maria Altmann's story has been recounted in three documentary films. Adele's Wish by filmmaker TerrenceTurner, who is the husband of Altmann's great-niece, was released in 2008. Adele's Wish featured interviewswith Altmann, her lawyer, E. Randol Schoenberg and leading experts from around the world. Altmann's storywas also the subject of the documentary Stealing Klimt, which was released in 2007. That movie alsofeatured interviews with Altmann, Schoenberg, and others who were closely involved with the story.

The piece was also featured in the 2006 documentary The Rape of Europa, which dealt with the massivetheft of art in Europe by the Nazi Government during World War II.

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See also

• List of most expensive paintings

References

• Hubertus Czernin. Die Fälschung: Der Fall Bloch-Bauer und das Werk Gustav Klimts. Czernin Verlag,Vienna 2006. ISBN 3-7076-0000-9

• The Fight for the Klimt Paintings

1. ^ NY Times report from June 19, 2006

2. ^ Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer was born Ferdinand Bloch, the son of David Bloch (also known as AbrahamBloch), a banker and sugar factory owner, and his wife Marie, née Straschnow. Ferdinand married AdeleBauer, the daughter of Moritz Bauer (director of the Vienna bank Wiener Bankverein) and his wife Jeanette,née Honig. When Ferdinand married Adele, both adopted the surname Bloch-Bauer.

3. ^ Last Will 1923

4. ^ Bloch-Bauer 1945 testament

5. ^ List and Pictures of Klimt Paintings ("Amalie" not part of the five pictures), Photo of Adele Bloch-Bauer,Photo of Klimt

6. ^ Quote

7. ^ [1]

External links

• Adele's Wish • Stealing Klimt at the Internet Movie Database • iKlimt.com, Life and Work of Gustav Klimt • Fortune article by Tyler Green about Ronald Lauder and the Neue Galerie's acquisition of the painting. • Documentation of the Legal Fight • Slate article (06/2006) • Los Angeles County Museum of Art: Klimt

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Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license. It uses materialretrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klimt_University_of_Vienna_Ceiling_Paintings on 2010-12-18.

CONTENTS

Philosophy

Medicine

Jurisprudence

Reaction

Outcome and destruction

Notes

References

External links

Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling PaintingsFrom Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation , search

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The bottom portion of the Medicine , showing Hygieia

The Klimt University of Vienna Ceiling Paintings, also known as the Faculty Paintings, were a series ofpaintings made by Gustav Klimt for the ceiling of the University of Vienna's Great Hall between the years of1900-1907. In 1894, Klimt was commissioned to paint the ceiling. Upon presenting his paintings, Philosophy,Medicine and Jurisprudence, Klimt came under attack for 'pornography' and 'perverted excess' in thepaintings. None of the paintings would go on display in the university. In May 1945 all three paintings weredestroyed by retreating SS forces.

Philosophy

Philosophy [1][dead link] was the first of the three pictures presented to the Austrian Government at the seventhVienna Secession exhibition in March 1900. It had been awarded a gold medal at the World Exhibition inParis, but was attacked by those in his own country. Klimt described the painting as follows: "On the left agroup of figures, the beginning of life, fruition, decay. On the right, the globe as mystery. Emerging below, afigure of light: knowledge." Critics were disturbed by its depiction of men and women drifting in an aimlesstrance. The original proposal for the theme of the painting was "The Victory of Light over Darkness", but whatKlimt presented instead was a dreamlike mass of humanity, referring neither to optimism nor rationalism, butto a "viscous void".[2] A rough study of the painting can be found here.[3]

Medicine

Medicine [4] was the second painting, presented in March 1901 at the tenth Secession Exhibition. It featured acolumn of nude figures on the right hand side of the painting, representing the river of life. Beside it was ayoung nude female who floated in space, with a newborn infant at her feet, representing life. A skeletonrepresented death in the river of life . The only link between the floating woman and the river of bodies is twoarms, the woman's and a man's as seen from behind. At the bottom of the painting Hygieia stood with theAesculapian snake around her arm and the cup of Lethe in her hand, turning her back to mankind. Klimtconveyed an ambiguous unity of life and death, with nothing to celebrate the role of medicine or the scienceof healing.[5] Upon display of the painting in 1901, he was attacked by critics who could have noted thatVienna was leading the world in medical research under such figures as Theodor Billroth (1829-94), FrantisekChvostek (1835-84), and Ludwig Türck (1810-68). An editorial in the Medizinische Wochenschrift complainedthat the painter had ignored doctors' two main achievements, prevention and cure. For a rough compositiondraft of the painting see here.[6]

Jurisprudence

Jurisprudence [7][dead link]was the third of the paintings presented at the eighteenth Secession Exhibition inNovember 1903. As in the other murals, the central theme is man's conflicted existence.[8] It, too, is laden withanxiety: A condemned man is depicted surrounded by the three female furies: Truth, Justice and Law. They

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are shown as the Eumenides, punishing the condemned man with an octopus's deadly embrace. It is notsurprising that the conflict in Jurisprudence has been seen as "psycho-sexual".[9]

Reaction

The paintings were attacked by critics when they were presented, as each painting broke different culturaltaboos, contradicting the trend of the era to 'sublimate reality and to only present its more favourableaspects.'(Neret) The paintings also drew the standard charges of obscenity which Klimt often faced.Eighty-seven faculty members protested against the murals,[10] and in 1901 a public prosecutor was called inand the issue even reached the Parliament of Austria, the first time that a cultural debate had ever beenraised there, but in the end no action was taken. Only the education minister defended Klimt, and when Klimtwas elected to be a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in 1901 the government refused to ratify theaction. He was never offered another teaching position. This would also be the last time Klimt would acceptcommissions from the state, remarking: "I've had enough of censorship...I reject all state support, I don't wantany of it."[11]

A later painting of his entitled Goldfish (to my critics) (1901-1902) [12] which showed a smiling, beautifulwoman projecting her bottom at the viewer, an obvious response to all those who attacked the 'pornography'and perverted excess' of the University paintings.

Outcome and destruction

The paintings were requested for an exhibition in St Louis in 1904, but the ministry declined, nervous of whatthe reaction might be. Klimt then resigned his commission, wishing to keep his work, but the ministry insistedthey were already property of the state. Only when Klimt threatened the removal staff with a shotgun was heable to keep his painting. Klimt repaid his advance of 30,000 crowns with the support of August Lederer, oneof his major patrons, who in return received Philosophy. In 1911 Medicine and Jurisprudence were bought byKlimt's friend and fellow artist, Koloman Moser. Medicine eventually came into the possession of a Jewishfamily, and in 1938 the painting was seized by Germany. In 1943, after a final exhibition, they were moved toSchloss Immendorf, a castle in Lower Austria, for protection. In May 1945 the paintings were destroyed asretreating German SS forces set fire to the castle to prevent it falling into enemy hands. All that remains noware preparatory sketches and a few photographs, most notably that of one focusing solely on Hygieia. Onlyone photograph remains of the complete painting of Medicine, taken just before it was destroyed. [4]

Notes

1. ^ "University of Wales Trinity Saint David". Lamp.ac.uk. http://www.lamp.ac.uk/philosophy/phil.jpg.Retrieved 2010-12-15.

2. ^ Fleidl, Gottfried: "Gustav Klimt 1862-1918 The World in Female Form", p. 77, Benedikt Taschen, 1994.

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3. ^ http://cgfa.sunsite.dk/klimt/klimt15.jpg

4. ^ a b "PubMed Central, Figure: BMJ. 2002 December 21; 325(7378): 1506�1508". Pubmedcentral.nih.gov.2010-11-16.

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=139056&rendertype=figure&id=FN0x97627f0.0x9a779b8. Retrieved 2010-12-15.

5. ^ Fliedl, p. 81, 1994.

6. ^ http://www.artchive.com/artchive/k/klimt/klimt_medicine.jpg

7. ^ [1][dead link]

8. ^ Fleidl, p. 86, 1994.

9. ^ Fleidl, p. 86, 1994.

10. ^ Fleidl, p. 81, 1994.

11. ^ Fleidl, p. 88, 1994.

12. ^ http://static.flickr.com/62/184668037_1422f16c45.jpg

References

• http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=139056#B2 • http://www.kilidavid.com/Art/Pages/Artists/klimt.htm • Gilles Neret. "Klimt". Taschen, 1993. ISBN 978-3-8228-5980-3

External links

• iKlimt.com, Life and Work of Gustav Klimt • Composition Draft for Medicine

Danaë (Klimt painting)

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 license. It uses material

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retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana%C3%AB_(Klimt_painting) on 2010-12-18.

Danaë (Klimt painting)From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation , search

Danae

Danaë is an oil painting by Gustav Klimt, created in 1907. The canvas measures 77 x 83 cm, is cataloged asSymbolism, and is currently housed within the Galerie Würthle in Vienna, Austria. Danaë was a popularsubject in the early 1900�s for many artists; she was used as the quintessential symbol of divine love, andtranscendence.

While imprisoned by her father, King of Argos, in a tower of bronze, Danaë was visited by Zeus, symbolizedhere as the golden rain flowing between her legs. It is apparent from the subject's face that she is aroused bythe golden stream.

In this work, she is curled in a sumptuous royal purple veil which refers to her imperial lineage. Sometimeafter her celestial visitation she gave birth to a son, Perseus, who is cited later in Greek mythology for slayingthe Gorgon Medusa and rescuing Andromeda.

Many other early portrayals of Danaë were often erotic; other paintings completed in similar style are Klimt�sHygeia (1900- 1907), and Water Snakes (1904 � 1907).[1]

• Danaë (Correggio) • Danaë (Rembrandt painting)

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• Danaë (Titian series)

0. 1. ^ Payne, Laura. Klimt. Bath, UK: Parragon Publishing, 2004.

This painting-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v " d " e

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