Klimt - Art Class for kids 8-16
- Fine Art Inspired
- Feb 6, 2018
- 2 min read
14 July 1862- 1918; Vienna, Austria
Gustav Klimt was an Austrian symbolist painter, whose primary subject was the female body. His paintings, murals, and sketches are marked by a sensual eroticism, which is especially apparent in his pencil drawings. Klimt attended the Vienna University of Arts and Crafts in 1876, and formed the “Company of Artists” with his two brothers and a friend, after which he was awarded the Golden Order of Merit from the Emperor of Vienna. In 1892, his father and one of his brothers died, leaving him responsible for their families. The family tragedy also affected his artistic vision, which helped him develop his own personal style.
Throughout his life, although he was a controversial painter due to his subject matter, he was made an honorary member of the Universities of Vienna and of Munich. He was also a founding member and president of the Vienna Secession, which sought to create a platform for new and unconventional artists, bring new artists to Vienna, and created a magazine to showcase its member’ work.
Klimt lived a simple, cloistered life, in which he avoided other artists and café society. He often wore a long robe, sandals, and no undergarments. He also had many discreet affairs with women, and fathered at least 14 children. This may be an indication of his passion for women, their form and sexuality, which was the main focus of many of his works. The majority of his paintings were characterized by golden or colored swirling designs, spirals, and phallic shapes, depicting dominant women in erotic positions.
Klimt died in the influenza epidemic of 1918, leaving behind a posthumous legacy that few artists can rival. His paintings have brought in the highest amounts ever paid at auction.
PORTRAIT OF ADELE BLOCH-BAUER by Gustav Klimt, 1907,
54 in × 54 in (138 cm × 138 cm), Oil, silver and gold leaf on canvas It’s not every painting that inspires a major motion picture, but that’s exactly what happened with Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer.
The sitter, Adele Bloch-Bauer was the original poor little rich girl who married young to escape the authority of her strict parents, to a man who was equally rich, industrialist Ferdinand Bloch. The Austrian painter, Gustav Klimt was a rags to riches artist who became successful by following his own unique artistic and daring vision. Klimt lived a bohemian life, wore robes, and we hear no underwear. And though he never married married, he fathered 14 children. The painting, completed by 1907, one of the last great works from Klimt’s Golden Phase, in which he employed the liberal use of gold and silver leaf, to great decorative effect. The composition is divided equally, right and left, with the subject seated on the right in an abstract winged-back chair wearing a flowing and ornate gold dress. She is bejeweled with bracelets and a fabulous diamond choker. The other half of the composition is an empty room, the wall painted mottled gold save for two silver squares, a lopsided design in the hands of any artist other than Klimt.
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