Gustav Klimt

I visited the Gustav Klimt exhibition in Liverpool recently where there was a beautiful array of Gustav Klimt’s works and masterpieces displayed, which were truly magnificent. I found his work very inspiring and it was great to see some of the paintings I admire, which I have only previously seen in books. The detail and quality was much more amazing than you could imagine.

I love how Klimt combined a naturalistic style with defined, decorative elements to give an ornate quality; how his art created a harmonious balance between the organic and the artificial. I admire how he uses jewel like patterns and shapes to adorn and accentuate the human female form. The females appearing in his work are depicted as beautiful and always look harmonious and elegant, with embellishment and defined patterns complimenting the female beauty.

One of my favourite pieces was ‘The Beethoven Frieze’ and I was amazed by the scale of it, filling three full walls. It progressed almost like a story and symbolised different stages in life with carefully considered spacing, which was encapsulating. I liked how there was floating female figures linked together, almost like angels guiding you through different stages and bringing the piece together as a whole. Sections were embellished with gold giving a luxurious feel and standing out from the pastel backgrounds. Again Klimt works in harmony with pastel and rich colours, suggesting the difference from natural and ornamental, something I also admired in Klimt’s work.

In the exhibition shop some of Gustav Klimt’s designs had been transferred on to silk scarves, which I really liked and worked well. One scarf was black decorated with gold jewel like circular patterns just like those seen often in his work; they progressed up the scarf like a string of varying sized beads. Another scarf more colourful and flowery depicted one of Klimt’s landscape paintings, again working well. I like how these painted designs have been reinterpreted on to scarves and fashion items like bags and purses showing how his work can be diverse.