Gustav Klimt

Klimt Gustav (1862-1918), the famous Austrian painter. One of the most outstanding representatives of Art Nouveau. Born in a suburb of Vienna in the family of artist-engraver. He graduated from the Vienna School of Decorative Arts. The early work of the artist consisted mainly of large murals for theaters and were written in a naturalistic style. The paintings depicting allegorical figures, Klimt executed in the 1890-1891 on the arches of a large staircase in the Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, the first appearance of the features that have become fundamental to his work - a clear silhouette and the tendency to ornamentalism. After 1898, the work of Gustav Klimt, becoming more decorative, symbolic aspect.
Gustav Klimt was the leader of the Viennese avant-garde turn of the century. Being primarily a painter-decorator, Klimt led the Viennese community of artists and innovators "Secession" - the protest movement against the aesthetic conservatism and moralism of the previous generation. Best of Klimt paintings considered later portraits of the artist, with their flat, unshaded surfaces, translucent, mosaic colors and forms, and sinuous, florid lines and patterns. Klimt's paintings combine two opposing forces; on the one hand - it thirst absolute freedom in the image of objects resulting from game ornamental shapes. These paintings of the painter are actually symbolic and must be viewed in the context of symbolism as an expression of the unattainable world standing above time and reality. On the other hand - this is the power of perception of nature and of nature, which mitigates the impact of ornamental splendor in the paintings of Gustav Klimt. Among the most delightful works of the artist - a panel for "Burgtheater" in Vienna (1888), a series of mosaic murals in Pallas Stoclet, rich private mansion in Brussels. By the end of his life in 1917, Klimt won full official recognition, becoming an honorary professor at the Vienna and Munich Academy of Fine Arts.
Gustav Klimt painting "The Kiss". On the flower field of ornament and abstract forms grows silhouette kissing couple. The coloring of the painting is dominated by gold-tone interspersed with spots of bright wildflowers and rich pattern clothes. The erotic nature of the scene impart sensual lines, lush ornamental and spicy flavor - a symbol of luxury and decadence. This style is often called the Art Nouveau style. Klimt wrote a large number of portraits, mainly of women, as well as mythological and allegorical compositions. Sketches of applied art and mosaics Gustav Klimt's enjoyed great success, however, created by the artist murals for the University of Vienna caused a scandal and were deemed art critics early twentieth century "pornographic." Gustav Klimt died in 1918.