Interpreting the Art of Gustav Klimt

The beauty of Byzantine churches which boast eye-catching gold mosaic domes and gorgeous artwork can be found through the Mediterranean area, particularly in Sicily, with Cathedrals including Monreale and Italy, with St Marks in Venice. The jeweled shades of silk (whose production was kept as a state secret inside the Empire) coupled with gold and enamels resulted in Byzantine walls explosions of color. The Byzantines were definitely aware of their influence on guests and often deliberately cultivated it, possibly in the process creating the jealousy which brought on the fourth crusade and the Empire's inevitable downfall.

Nowhere is the colorful golden effect of the Byzantine empire be viewed more clearly than in the art of Gustav Klimt, but his body of creation was very different from his source of inspiration.

While Byzantine artwork has two dimensional portraiture generally involving mythological and religious scenes, the paintings of Klimt is usually deemed sensual and nearly fully made from female figures. The Byzantine inspiration is noted in the application of mosaic designs and ornamental flourishes, jewel-like colorings and gold. Klimt's father and brother were both gold engravers, and that is the reason behind the utilization of gold in a great number of his art works. Despite the fact that Klimt would not travel very much, he regularly went to both Ravenna and Venice therefore appears in all likelihood that that's where he was inspired by Byzantine influences.

Klimt began work as a an architectural painter working with his brother and a friend to color interior murals and ceilings. He was awarded a medal honoring his work in 1888, yet his design and style changed after the demise of his brother and father. For ten years from 1897 Klimt would be a member (and in the past president) of the Wiener Sezession a group of artists who protested traditional art theory and hence separated themselves from the Association of Austrian Artists. Their purpose was to present displays for unusual artists and give the very best of foreign art to Vienna. They didn't prefer any kind of particular style and acquired government assistance consisting of a lease on some public acreage where they might possibly construct an exhibition hall.

Klimt's individual creations did not fare very well at first. Many of the paintings he had been commissioned to produce were declined and thought to be 'pornographic'. His future effort was far better received, especially that of his 'gold' period in which he integrated a great deal of gold leaf. In 1911 Klimt won first prize in the world exhibitions in Rome, however he left little behind besides his art work. His life had not been populated with scandal, he made no self portraits and left no records and no diary. He died in 1918 leaving many works incomplete.

Three of Klimt's works obtained among the most ever paid for paintings with the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I selling for $135 million in 2006. At that time it had been the largest price tag previously paid for a piece of art, although it's now been eclipsed by the $137 paid for Willem de Kooning's Woman III and the $140 million paid for Jackson Pollocks No 5, 1948.

Few of us have enough money to enjoy original artwork, or even the appropriate living space in which to hang a good Klimt reproduction, however several of Klimt's most well-known works have been styled to be enjoyed as sculptures, and thus they create fascinating decorative creations and valuable presents for art enthusiasts or anyone who might enjoy a an art-inspired museum gift.