This year is one full of commemoration and celebration, a lot of which is sporting, but 2012 also marks the anniversary of one of the most influential artists in Europe. It is the 150th anniversary of Gustav Klimt’s birth, the Austrian symbolist painter and artist. Born in 1862, Klimt was one of the most important members of the Vienna Secession movement, a group of painters, sculptors and architects.
The group, of which Klimt was a founding member and president, was formed in 1897 and became an incredibly influential organisation.
With the aim of shaking up the Austrian art scene, which it felt was too conservative, the Vienna Secession provided exhibition space for unconventional young artists and tried to bring foreign artists’ work to Vienna.
Many styles were welcomed by the organisation, with everything from surrealists to symbolists given equal importance.
In 1897, the group’s exhibition house was built in Vienna. Designed by Joseph Maria Olbrich, the building is still standing today and is known simply as Secession.
Secession is one of a number of art spaces and museums that are celebrating Klimt’s 150th birthday, with a year-long exhibition of some of the artist’s work.
Klimt’s iconic work Beethoven Frieze will be on display at Secession, with a contemporary platform that allows visitors to view the piece at eye-level.
Secession is one of ten places in Vienna dedicating an exhibition to one of Austria’s most famous artists. Another is the grand Belvedere museum, which is home to the world’s largest collection of Klimt’s work.
The exhibition “Masterpieces in Focus: 150 years of Gustav Klimt” aims to look at the statements made by each of Klimt’s main works.
But it is not just Vienna that is celebrating Klimt’s birthday. In New York, at the Neue Gallery, an exhibition of some of Klimt’s most erotic work, as well as pieces from his Golden Phase will be open until the end of August.
(Images: Aavindraa, Gryffindor, wikipedia.org, Razr)
