The Neue Galarie (new gallery) is a museum for German and Austrian art from the early twentieth century. This museum is one of my favorite places in New York because I especially like Austrian painter, Egon Schiele. However, when I visited the museum this time, there were only a few paintings of him. So, I chose one of the most famous paintings of Gustav Klimt.
This is a “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I” (1903-1907), painted by Gustav Klimt. Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) is a genius and pioneer of Viennese Modernism. This piece is a portrait of one woman who was the wife of Klimt’s sponsor. She was the only one person whose portrait painted twice by Klimt.
At first, the painting looks just colorful portrait of one woman for me, but a close look at the painting reveals something abstract. Although face of woman is depicted realistically, I’m not sure whether she is seating or standing in the painting. Actually, Klimt depicts Bloch-Bauer as seated, but it is difficult to identify the form of chair or to separate the form of her clothing from the background. Omissions were common in all of Klimt’s earlier portraits. This work does not provide any clues about location, context and so on.
In terms of “ambiguous” and “irrationality”, this piece can be viewed as a Modernism. Modernism is based on realization that human behavior is inherently emotional and irrational. Therefore, it is not a matter of right or wrong in modernism. Actually, Klimt has never explained his works within his lifetime.
I think Klimt is very important figure in history of Modernism. In the year 1900, Vienna was a center of culture in the world including philosophy, psychology, medicine and art. However, at that time, Klimt wanted to change traditional, conservative culture of art, so he led Vienna Secession movement. Klimt was a pioneer of the Modernist art movement. Also, he is a symbolist and the earliest example of Modernist ideologies manifest in art.
When I see “Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I and II”, I’m doubtful that he might have loved Adele because she was the only woman whose portrait painted twice and paintings shows bright and lovely feeling of colors. Actually, Klimt was rumored to be romantically involved with numerous women he painted, but nobody knows.