Gustav Klimt: Master Of Succession Expression

Readers who follow this blog know that I have a quiet obsession with something called the Wiener Werkstatte. It was a community of artists in Vienna that grew out of the Vienna Secession, itself a larger expression of the Arts and Crafts movement beginning in the late 19th century. My fascination with this theme began during a semester of cultural history in graduate school focusing on organic form and function in urban planning and design. The interest reemerged twenty years later with my involvement in the planning and design of parks, visitor centers, museum, exhibits, publications, and other facets of resource interpretation in the National Park Service. I'll leave it to you to find the linkages.

One of the most significant members of the Vienna Secession, Gustav Klimt, was born on this day in 1862 He is described as a symbolist painter, one who focuses on mysticism and imagination. His Wikipedia entry describes his early work as academic, a characteristic he gradually left behind following a life-long relationship with fashion designer and entrepreneur, Emilie Louise Floge, that began when he was 28. Many art historians claim this 1907 painting, The Kiss,  is the finest expression of their loving relationship: 

This painting is also from what is called Klimt's "Gold Period" and is probably more familiar:

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer  (1907) has an amazing history involving Nazi looting, museum purchase, decades of litigation, $135,000,000, art world disgust, a book, and five films, including the popular 2015 release, Woman in Gold. 

There is much more to Klimt than the golden paintings. If you look at the body of his work it's easy to see how he continues to exert a broad influence on material culture and imagination a century after his death.

Avenue in Schloss Kammer Park, 1912

Sources

Illustrations:
The Kiss, Osterreichische Galerie Bevedere, Vienna
Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer, The Yorck Project: 10.000 Meisterwerke der Malerei. DVD-ROM, 2002. ISBN 3936122202

Avenue in Schloss Kammer Park, Osterreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna

Text:
Gustav Klimt, Wikipedia.com
klimt.com
"Klimt Painted Much More Than 'The Woman In Gold'", Colton Valentine, Huffinton Post, July 14, 2015