Art Work by Rich Wagner
  • Great Artists
  • Art Museums
  • Art by Rich Wagner
  • Art reviews index
  • Beyondships Art Blog
  • Beyondships Cruise Destinations
  • Original Art
  • Art by Valda
  • Beyondships cruise ships
  • Notices
  • Privacy Policy
  • London Art Roundup
  • AMB
  • Stephen Card Exhibition
  • Visiting Exhibitions

Beyondships Art Blog

Art exhibition review: the klimt gallery

12/30/2017

 
The centerpiece of the Neue Galerie is the Klimt Gallery on the second floor. This room is home to ten or so works by Gustav Klimt. While there are many interesting works in the Neue Galerie, this is where you find the most visitors.

Undoubtedly, Klimt is the best known of the Austrian and German artists featured in this museum. But what makes his art successful?

Klimt was born in 1862 outside of Vienna. His father was an engraver often working with gold but Gustav grew up in poverty.

He received his artistic training at the State School of Arts and Crafts as did his brother Ernst. The teo brothers formed a partnership with fellow artists Franz Matsch and found their first success doing conventional history paintings.

Gustav was not satisfied with conventional art. Therefore, after Ernst's death, Gustav became a founding member of the Vienna Secession, a group who sought to break away from the rules of the art establishment of the day. Nonetheless, his unconventional style was appreciated by Vienna's growing middle class who commissioned him to do portraits.

On the surface, Klimt's private life might appear to have been conventional. All his life, he lived in an apartment with his mother and two sisters. After Ernst died, he became the guardian for his niece. He never married.

But when you look a little deeper, you find that surface appearances can be deceptive. When Gustav died in 1918, the court handling his estate received 14 petitions for child support. The court concluded that three of these were proven. Such claims were consistent with the widespread rumors that Gustav had had numerous affairs with his models as well as with some of the rich ladies whose portraits he had painted. In the studio, he dressed only in a loose robe and there were tales of models cavorting between posing for erotic drawings.

Thus, Klimt was both an artistic rebel and a very sensuous individual. These are also the hallmarks of Klimt's best works.

The superstar painting of the Klimt Gallery is “Adele Bloch-Bauer I” This painting was the subject of the popular film “The Woman In Gold” but that is not the only reason people stop and linger in front of it.
It is not a conventional portrait. Indeed, only the sitter's head, shoulders and hands are easily discernible. The golden gown that covers the rest of her body blends into the background. It is a two dimensional picture full of decorative designs and geometric patterns. Yet, the various elements of the picture come together to support the face, which dominates the sea of gold.

The face is not classically beautiful but it is attractive. Her eyes are soulful and her red lips sexual. It was believed at the time that Adele was one of the women with whom Gustav had an affair. His painting “Judith,” which Adele also posed for, certainly suggests that their relationship was more than platonic. Returning to the portrait, this face surrounded by sumptuous gold leaf makes the work very sensuous.
​
Also in the Klimt Gallery is “Adele Bloch-Bauer II,” a slightly later portrait of the same person. It does not have the gold work of the earlier portrait and thus is not as bold. The figure is more conservatively dressed in what was probably a daytime outfit and stands out more than in the predecessor painting. Still, it is an unconventional portrait, Once again it is two dimensional. Colorful rectangles decorated with Japanese-inspired designs make up the background.

The figure is not posed provocatively but rather she is straight as a pillar. Nonetheless, her sensuality comes through in her face through Klimt's handling of the eyes and the lips.
She is portrayed intriguingly but with a touch of innocence.

On the same wall is “The Dancer,” which is similar in dimensions and in composition to “Adele Bloch-Bauer II”. It is perhaps more colorful and more flesh is more exposed but it works for generally the same reasons.

Most of the other pictures in the Gallery are landscapes. They recall works done by the Impressionists and the Post Impressionists and would have been unconventional at the time they were painted. However,without the human figure there is little sensuality and therefore less interest.   
Picture
"Adel e Bloch-Bauer I" (above) and "Adele Bloch Bauer II" (right).  (Public Domain, WickiMedia Commons)
Picture

Comments are closed.

    Author

    Rich Wagner is a writer, photographer and artist.

    This blog presents reviews of art exhibitions and art collections as well as articles on art and art technique.

    Archives

    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017

    Categories

    All
    Alexander Calder
    American Art
    Anthem Of The Seas
    Art
    Art Analysis
    Art Classes
    Art Review
    Art Technique
    Asian Art
    Asia Society Museum
    Auguste Rodin
    Charcoal
    Claude
    Claude Monet
    Colin McDowell
    Contemporary Art
    Corner Of A Cafe Concert
    Cruise Ship Art Class
    Cruise Ship Art Collections
    Cunard
    David Hockney
    Drawing
    Edouard Manet
    Exhibition Review
    Fashion Illustration
    Fashion Week
    Fine Art
    Folk Art
    Frederic Remington
    French Art
    Guernsey Museum
    Gustav Klimt
    Henry James
    Holland America
    Illustration
    Impressionism
    Indian Art
    Irish Museum Of Modern Art
    James McNeill Whistler
    Jason Brooks
    John Constable
    John Singer Sargent
    Joseph Cornell
    Juan Gris
    Kenneth Paul Black
    La Grenouillere
    Leon Golub
    Lucian Freud
    Manet
    Margret Clarke
    Matisse
    Matisse In The Studio
    Maud Lewis
    Max Ernst
    Metropolitan Museum Of Art
    Milk Fixative
    Modern Art
    MOMA
    Morgan Library And Museum
    Museums
    National Gallery Of Scotland
    National Portrait Gallery
    Neue Galerie
    Ocean Liners
    Painting
    Pastel Portraits
    Pastels
    Perez Art Museum
    Peter Le Vasseur
    Picasso
    Portraiture
    Poussin
    Queen Mary 2
    Rembrandt
    Review
    Royal Academy
    Sculpture
    Self-analyis
    Sketching
    Smart Phone
    Stephen Card
    Susan Klibanoff
    Victoria & Albert Museum
    Watercolor Class
    Whitney Museum Of American Art
    William McTaggart



    RSS Feed

Beyondships Cruise Destinations
(Travel articles about and profiles of destinations). 
Beyondships Cruise Ship Profiles
(Information about cruise ships)
Beyondships Cruise Ship Pictorials and Reviews
(Photos, videos and reviews of cruise ships)
Beyondships LLC 
Notices
Privacy Policy 
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Great Artists
  • Art Museums
  • Art by Rich Wagner
  • Art reviews index
  • Beyondships Art Blog
  • Beyondships Cruise Destinations
  • Original Art
  • Art by Valda
  • Beyondships cruise ships
  • Notices
  • Privacy Policy
  • London Art Roundup
  • AMB
  • Stephen Card Exhibition
  • Visiting Exhibitions