ne of the most
outstanding representatives
of art nouveau and the leader of Vienna modernism.
Having received university education, Gustav Klimt
gains his first painting experience executing decorations
for numerous theatres and museums. That experience together
with the aesthetic preoccupations of turn-of-the-century Vienna`s
dazzling intellectual world prove to have an immense influence
on his later works. Finally Klimt becomes the major initiator
of artistic changes when in 1897 he decides to cut off from
the established academic cannons and together with other artists
founds the school of painting known as the Vienna Secession
with which he will stay closely associated up to 1905.
The ultimate object of Klimt`s attempts was to create an “absolute” work of art, free from any conventions or restrictions imposed by any academic conceptions. His paintings are an expression of an unrestricted artistic freedom and carry within themselves the abundance and complexity of the epoch in which he came to create. One only just needs to immerse in the melancholic looks of the women, forever captured in his canvas, in order to discover and appreciate the beauty of that world. Klimt succeeded in creating a masterpiece equal to his own times, that has been the source of inspiration for many contemporary artists.
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