Length1h 22m
About this audiobook
"I am not interested in myself as a subject for painting, but in others, particularly women…"Beautiful, sensuous and above all erotic, Gustav Klimt's paintings speak of a world of opulence and leisure, which seems aeons away from the harsh, post-modern environment we live in now. The subjects he treats – allegories, portraits, landscapes and erotic figures – contain virtually no reference to external events, but strive rather to create a world where beauty, above everything else, is dominant. His use of colour and pattern was profoundly influenced by the art of Japan, ancient Egypt, and Byzantium. Ravenne, the flat, two-dimensional perspective of his paintings, and the frequently stylised quality of his images form an oeuvre imbued with a profound sensuality and one where the figure of woman, above all, reigns supreme. Klimt's very first works brought him success at an unusually young age. Gustav, born in 1862, obtained a state grant to study at Kunstgewerbeschule (the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts) at the age of fourteen. His talents as a draughtsman and painter were quickly noticed, and in 1879 he formed the Künstlercompagnie (Artists' Company) with his brother Ernst and another student, Franz Matsch. The latter part of the nineteenth century was a period of great architectural activity in Vienna. In 1857, the Emperor Franz Joseph had ordered the destruction of the fortifications that had surrounded the medieval city centre. The Ringstrasse was the result, a budding new district with magnificent buildings and beautiful parks, all paid for by public expenses. Therefore the young Klimt and his partners had ample opportunities to show off their talents, and they received early commissions to contribute to the decorations for the pageant organised to celebrate the silver wedding anniversary of the Emperor Franz Joseph and the Empress Elisabeth. In 1894, Matsch moved out of their communal studio, and in 1897 Klimt, together with his closest friends, resigned from the Künstlerhausgenossenschaft (the Cooperative Society of Austrian Artists) to form a new movement known as the Secession, of which he was immediately elected president. The Secession was a great success, holding both a first and second exhibition in 1898. The movement made enough money to commission its very own building, designed for it by the architect Joseph Maria Olbrich. Above the entrance was its motto: "To each age its art, to art its freedom." From around 1897 onward, Klimt spent almost every summer on the Attersee with the Flöge family. These were periods of peace and tranquillity in which he produced the landscape paintings constituting almost a quarter of his entire oeuvre. Klimt made sketches for virtually everything he did. Sometimes there were over a hundred drawings for one painting, each showing a different detail – a piece of clothing or jewellery, or a simple gesture. Just how exceptional Gustav Klimt was is perhaps reflected in the fact that he had no predecessors and no real followers. He admired Rodin and Whistler without slavishly copying them, and was admired in turn by the younger Viennese painters Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka, both of whom were greatly influenced by Klimt.
Audiobook details
GenreOther
Length1 hr 22 mins
Narrated byListen with 1,000+ voices
FormateBook with Audio
Publish dateJul 1, 2011
LanguageEnglish
Table of contents
1Klimt
2© Confidential Concepts, worldwide, USA © Parkstone Press International, New York, USA
3Biography
4Munich Succession.
5Ravenne and Florence.
Show all chaptersShow less
6Decorative Arts in Munich.
7virtually no reference to external events, but
8Ravenna, the flat, two-dimensional perspective
91883 oil on canvas, 85 x 117 cm Historisches Museum, Vienna
101884 oil on canvas, 50 x 74 cm Historisches Museum Vienna
11His talents as a draughtsman and painter
12In 1857, the Emperor Franz Joseph had
13Therefore, the young Klimt and his partners
14Elisabeth.
15works, such as Fable, The Idyll, or indeed one
161886-1888 750 x 400 cm Burgtheater, Vienna
17unsuggestive ‘v’ reminiscent of modern-day
181888 Vienna
19Allegory of “Sculpture”
20Portrait of Joseph Pembaur
211890 oil on canvas, 69 x 55 cm Innsbruck, Austria
22the death of his father and brother Ernst in
231890 oil on canvas, 55 x 128.5 cm Wadsworth Atheneum, Hartford (Connecticut)
24communal studio, and in 1897 Klimt, together
25both a first and a second exhibition in 1898.
26of paintings for the University of Vienna. The
27series of dignified, formal paintings in classical
28c.1894 oil on wood, 39 x 23 cm Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna
29the fact that on its first showing in Paris at the
30The first appearance of the unfinished
311895 Bayerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen, Munich
32the two striking female figures at the bottom
331895 oil on canvas, 60 x 44 cm Österreichische Galerie, Vienna
34The naked woman at the top of the picture
35Interestingly though, in the sketch the
36Final drawing for the allegory of “Tragedy”
37women an ideal female type: modern, with a
38Portrait of a Woman
39dark-haired version of Marilyn Monroe.
401897-1898 oil on canvas, 41 x 66 cm Österreichische Galerie, Vienna
41Pallas Athena
421898 Oil on canvas, 75 x 75 cm Historisches Museum, Vienna
431898 oil on canvas, 52 x 65 cm Private collection
44Excess resembles not so much a woman as an
451898 black chalk, pencil, Indian ink, 41 x 10 cm
46much in the same way that modern-day
471898 oil on canvas, 145 x 145 cm Österreichische Galerie, Vienna
48Exhibition wallpaper for “Secession I”
491898 lithograph, 62 x 43 cm Private collection, New York
50This calm response perhaps best typifies
More from Jane Rogoyska, Patrick Bade
Gustav KlimtJane Rogoyska, Patrick Bade2h 24m$13 · $0.00
Gustav KlimtJane Rogoyska, Patrick Bade3h$15 · $0.00
Amedeo ModiglianiJane Rogoyska, Frances Alexander2h 13m$13 · $0.00
Amedeo ModiglianiJane Rogoyska, Frances Alexander2h 24m$13 · $0.00
Gustav Klimt: Art and intrigueJane Rogoyska47m$13 · $0.00
Gustav KlimtJane Rogoyska, Patrick Bade3h 2m$16 · $0.00
Amedeo ModiglianiJane Rogoyska, Frances Alexander2h 16m$13 · $0.00
Gustav KlimtJane Rogoyska, Patrick Bade2h 23m$13 · $0.00
The King James Bible (Annotated)Various Authors83h 36m$2 · $0.00
The Holy Bible - 1 SamuelKing James2h 13m3.0 (1)$3 · $0.00
KJV Holy BibleBroadStreet Publishing Group LLC96h 16m$10 · $0.00
Book of ColossiansUnknown Author16m$8
The American Standard Bible — The Gospel of MatthewMatthew3h 56m$2 · $0.00
Everyday Chanakya | Time Management S01E08Radhakrishnan Pillai42m$4
Bad Fat Black GirlSesali Bowen6h 32m$24 · $0.00
The King James Audio Bible New Testament CompleteChristopher Glyn20h 2m5.0 (1)$12 · $0.00
Faiths CheckbookCharles Spurgeon12h 44m$11 · $0.00
Be Wild Be FreeAmber Fossey26m$7 · $0.00
Ten Things I Wish You Knew About Your Child's Mental HealthDr. Billy Garvey4h 53m$20 · $0.00
Designing Terry Pratchett’s DiscworldPaul Kidby3h 52m$20 · $0.00
The Chosen Book OneAmanda Jenkins, Kristen Hendricks, Dallas Jenkins3h 8m$10 · $0.00
The Lives of BrianBrian Johnson9h 45m$29 · $0.00
The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the HorseCharlie Mackesy58m$11 · $0.00
Expository Thoughts on the Gospel of LukeJ.C. Ryle27h 13m$18 · $0.00
CrossroadsKaleb Dahlgren7h 56m$26 · $0.00
Across the RiverKent Babb11h 40m$29 · $0.00
Brain Training for RidersAndrea Monsarrat Waldo5h 56m$19 · $0.00
My Effin' LifeGeddy Lee17h 11m5.0 (1)$40 · $0.00
You may also like
Women as World Builders: Studies in Modern FeminismFloyd Dell29m$2 · $0.00
The Grandes DamesStephen Birmingham11h 32m$27 · $0.00
Memoirs of Dr. Joseph PriestleyJoseph Priestley7h 54m$1 · $0.00
India: A Million Mutinies NowV. S. Naipaul24h 46m$30
The Education of Henry AdamsHenry Adams19h 28m$30
The Essence of Hegel's PhilosophyGeorg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel240h 53m$2 · $0.00
Bad JewsEmily Tamkin10h 9m$29 · $0.00
Dream Life and Real LifeOlive Schreiner0m$2 · $0.00
A Room of One's OwnVirginia Woolf5h 5m$20
Olinda's Adventures: The Amours of a Young Lady (Annotated)Catharine Trotter Cockburn2h 20m$2 · $0.00
If the Oceans Were InkCarla Power12h 35m$20 · $0.00
CourbetPatrick Bade1h 9m$13.50 · $0.00
Japanese Plays and PlayfellowsOsman Edwards8h 54m$2 · $0.00
The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill (Annotated)John Stuart Mill139h 17m$2 · $0.00
The Soul of a BishopH. G. Wells8h 55m$2.30
The Essence of Hegel's Philosophy (Annotated)Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel243h 2m$2 · $0.00
Ireland under CoercionWilliam Henry Hurlbert17h 8m$1 · $0.00
Gustave CourbetGeorges Riat5h 45m$18 · $0.00
What Becomes a Legend MostPhilip Gefter22h 51m$46 · $0.00
Hegel's Phenomenology of Mind (Annotated)Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel27h 55m$2 · $0.00