LOOKING AT ART: GUSTAV KLIMT

Yeah so I posted my pregnancy self-portrait, and I posed the question “Is it possible to depict motherhood in a non-sentimental way?

Yes.

Yes it is.

Allow me to present to you, for your viewing pleasure, some Gustav Klimt works.

Beethoven Frieze detail

Gustav Klimt

The Beethoven Frieze (detail)

1902

Casein paint, Gold, Graphite

2.15 m x 34.1 m

hopeIIGustav Klimt

Hope, II

1907

Oil, gold, and platinum on canvas

110.5 x 110.5 cm

We saw the above painting during our December trip to New York, and let met tell you, the details blew me away. It has a lot to do with the birth/death link that is sometimes made – check out the skull on her belly. I wish there was a bigger image but according to Google this is it.

The next one is not obviously about pregnancy, but it seems appropriate in the bigger theme of Life.

tree of life

Gustav Klimt

Tree of Life, Stoclet Frieze

1909

Oil on Canvas

195 cm × 102 cm

Who knew Klimt could draw? (The Getty Center). I am in awe of his lines. I limited myself to adding in just this one:

pregnant-woman-and-manGustav Klimt

Pregnant Woman and Man

Black Chalk on Paper

44.7 x 30.6 cm

I especially love how the “mistake” in the drawing reinforces the tenderness between this couple. Masterful.

 

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