From Publishers Weekly
Emerging in the "joyful apocalypse" that was 1900s Vienna, Gustav Klimt embodied the contradictions of a time when Austria's new moralistic fervor and its rising nationalism existed alongside Vienna's decadent demimonde. Metzger's book focuses on Klimt's experiences as an artist, tracking his development from president of the Viennese Secession to his mentorship of Oskar Kokoschka and Egon Schiele, as well as tracing his movements from historicism through naturalism to modernism. Though the book touches only lightly on Klimt's personal life, the scandalous nature of his work, his illegitimate children and the haremlike working conditions of his studio, it provides a detailed portrait of the changes and inconsistencies that defined Vienna at the time, when Secessionist principles of freedom from artistic judgment met simultaneous demands for high standards and the "parallel pursuit of collectivity and individuality." The substantial volume also contains hundreds of reproductions of Klimt's works on paper, many of them previously unpublished; though the reproductions are small, they give readers an excellent sense of Klimt's expressionist line, his mosaic-like use of color and his interest in portraits and female nudes. This superior collection of images provides fresh insight into Klimt's aesthetics and the trends and times from which they emerged. (Apr. 24)
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Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
