Gustave Klimt, 1862-1918: The World in Female Form

Cologne: Taschen, 1994. 239 pages, illustrations (some colour), portraits; 30 cm. English Edition. Near fine. Firm binding, clean inside copy. Age toning. OVERSIZE! No priority/international, except by arrangement. Richly illustrated with colour plates. "Gustav Klimt's art is thoroughly fin de sie`cle. It expresses the apocalyptic atmosphere of Vienna's upper middle-class society--a society devoted to the cultivation of aesthetic awareness and the cult of pleasure. The ecstatic joy which Klimt and his contemporaries found -or hoped to find--in beauty was constantly overshadowed by death. And death therefore plays an important role in Klimt's art. Klimt's fame, however, rests on his reputation as one of the greatest erotic painters and graphic artists of his times. Particularly his drawings, which have been widely admired for their artistic excellence, are dominated by the erotic portrayal of women. Klimt saw the world "in female form". Author Gottfried Fliedl also discusses the Secession movement and Klimt's role within this group of artists. Examining Klimt's work against the background of his times, he gives an appraisal of the artist while at the same time raising the critical issues." - Publisher . CONTENTS: Introduction: Klimt's popularity; Klimt's fame; Klimt's Vienna--then and now; Years of training; Early works and the beginning of a career; Early portraits; "Oedipal revolt"--the Secession; Modernity; The faculty paintings; Early landscapes; The Secession building and its exhibitions; The Beethoven Frieze; The Kiss; The Three ages of woman: death and life; Hope; Judith; The Stoclet Frieze; The break-up of the Secession and the 1908 Kunstschau Exhibition; "l'm not particularly interesting"; Landscapes; "Solitary dialogues": Klimt's erotic drawings; "The world in female form"; Danae; Ladies' portraits; Late works; Chronology.. Paperback. Very Good. 4to.