The story of Klimt's astonishing artistic career is told in this
beautifully produced collection of reproductions, photographs and
drawings with an accompanying text that places the artist in a unique
historical moment and reflects his fierce appetite for life and
beauty.
Gustav Klimt's career straddled the last gasps of Vienna's golden age
and the birth of modernism. When seen through this bifurcated lens, it
is easy to understand why his relatively small oeuvre created such a
lasting impact.
This gorgeously illustrated biography explores the unique environment in
which Klimt worked--a society in which the schooling of artists was both
appreciated and encouraged; a city that was pouring money into
magnificently ornate architecture and portraiture; a population that was
both experimenting with and suppressing freedom of thought. The full
breadth of Klimt's accomplishments is represented here--history and
symbolist paintings, building decorations, murals, posters, magazine
illustrations, portraits, and landscapes.
Readers will learn how Klimt navigated the complex architecture of
fin-de-siècle Vienna and helped found the Vienna Secession and they
will see how Klimt's style and motifs changed extensively through the
years. Dozens of key works allow for close inspection of Klimt's
dazzling artistry, his profound appreciation of female sensuality and
his brilliant application of color and mosaic. The author draws out the
importance of the relation between the plane surfaces of Klimt's
paintings and the spaces they represent, thereby raising surprising
connections between his painting and his skills in the applied arts.
Compact and satisfying, this book traces a singular artist's trajectory
across an ever-changing cultural landscape.
