Amazon.com's Best of 2001
In accompaniment with the exhibition held by the National Gallery of Canada comes
Gustav Klimt: Modernism in the Making. This powerhouse of a book spans the life and work of the famous Austrian painter who is well-known, even now, for his dramatic work, "The Kiss." This beautiful tome includes four chapters, by four different art historians, on the background and importance of Klimt's work, plus two sections devoted to the works in the exhibition, including a page of detailed commentary on each of the paintings.
As a student, Klimt was trained in the decorative arts. He quickly became known for his blending of both high and low art styles, a rather controversial movement at the turn of the century. His graphic shapes and colors became one of his signatures and hold his paintings together like sublime art nouveau glue. Though popular enough at the time to have been commissioned to create murals and friezes for grand buildings, Klimt did not escape public criticism for the heavy sexual content of his work. Klimt's symbolic paintings about life and death are full of images of nude women, young, old or pregnant, and couples and groups intertwined. These colorful, sensual, and elegant paintings remain fascinating symbols of fin-de-siècle Europe. --J.P. Cohen
From Library Journal
Austrian painter Gustav Klimt, whose work combined Symbolist and Art Nouveau elements, has long been popular with the general public but has had a mixed reputation among critics and art historians. Published in connection with his first North American retrospective, held at the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, this volume provides an effective overview of Klimt's life and work. The essays, by scholars such as Bailey (chief curator of the Frick Collection, New York), Marian Bisanz-Prakken, and Peter Vergo, place the artist in the context of fin-de-siecle Vienna and the art historical moment. They break little new ground in Klimt scholarship but, along with the 190 full-color reproductions and illustrated chronology, are likely to be of interest to nonspecialist readers. Among the drawings reproduced are frank explorations of sexuality, including images of masturbation and lesbian encounters. While there are many other volumes on various aspects of Klimt's work available, this one offers a general biographical and art historical perspective as well as commentary on each painting reproduced. Suitable for public and academic libraries. Kathryn Wekselman, MLn, Cincinnati, OH
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
