More than a century after his death, the Viennese artist Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) continues to amaze with his unabashed eroticism, brilliant surfaces and artistic experiments. This monograph brings together all of Klimt's major works with authoritative art-historical commentary and privileged access to the artist's archives.
With top-quality illustrations, including new photography by the famed Stoclet Fries, this TASCHEN coffee table book follows Klimt through his prominent role in the 1897 Secessionist movement, his candid depiction of the female body and his gleaming "golden phase" when gold leaf gave a shimmering tone and texture to such beloved works as The Kiss and Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, also known as The Woman in Gold.
Through crisp spreads and carefully composed details, the monograph traces the repertoire of Japanese, Byzantine and allegorical stimuli that informed Klimt's flattened perspectives, his symbolic vocabulary and his mosaic-like textures. Drawing on contemporary critics and voices, the book also examines the art world's polarized reception of Klimt's paintings and his own stylistic trajectory. From his landscape painting to erotic works to the controversial ceiling for the Great Hall of the University of Vienna, we see how Klimt's blend of tradition and daring divided the press and public - scolded by some for being a provocative photographer, praised by others as a modern maestro.
Specifications
Title: Gustav Klimt. The Complete Paintings
Author: Tobias G. Natter
Publisher: Taschen
Size: 290 x 395 cm
Size: 676 pages
Weight: 7.8 kg
Language: English
Material: Hardcover
ISBN: 9783836527958
