In this new series of blogs, I will be taking a brief look at artists’ techniques, focusing on the style or subject matter for which they are most well known. I will be selecting artists whose paintings I have copied or who have inspired my own work. For more details go to my blog, "How to paint in the style of..."
Gustav Klimt (1862-1918)
The son of a goldsmith, the Austrian symbolist artist Gustav Klimt is noted for his luxuriant paintings of women and his extravagant use of gold leaf. After studying at Vienna’s School of Arts and Crafts, Klimt opened a studio with his brother Ernst specialising in the execution of murals for public buildings. These commissions ceased when Klimt’s allegorical murals for the Great Hall of the University of Vienna were widely criticised as pornographic.
A controversial figure socially, Klimt was elected president of the Vienna Secession which promoted the work of avant-garde young artists (Egon Schiele was mentored by him). The group railed against academic art in favour of a bold, design-led style similar to Art Nouveau with its sensuous and curvaceous forms and flat decorative patterns.
Klimt was inspired by Japanese art and ornate fabrics as well as the shimmering gold and colourful stone pieces of early Byzantine mosaics. These he wove into his work, juxtaposing geometric shapes, ancient symbols, intricate mosaic patterns, highly stylised flowers and trees to create a golden harmonious whole.
Notable works include: “The Kiss”, 1908; “Apple Tree 1”,1912; “Adele Block Bauer I” (1907)
To paint in the style of Klimt, consider universal themes like feminine beauty, love and desire, aging and death. Portray man’s sense of insecurity in the modern world, the struggle of his soul to find earthly happiness. Develop an erotic pictorial vocabulary (Klimt’s included motifs of penetration, aquatic forms and red hair).
Be extravagant, create your own fabulous universe. Make vibrant colour, flowing lines, floral details, voluptuous ornamentation, intricate patterning and composite shapes key to your work. Treat painting as a meditation, working slowly and methodically to fill every space.
For landscapes select a square board. According to Klimt this format “makes it possible to bathe the subject in an atmosphere of peace. Through the square the picture becomes part of a universal whole”. Choose simple motifs as symbols of nature’s fertility: chickens, flowers, fruit trees, lakes, gardens, farm buildings set in lush meadows.
Look through a viewfinder to flatten the landscape and organise it into blocks of shapes and optically-mixed colours. Leave some canvas showing through. Reinforce the edges of some flowers, branches and leaves with lines. Create a tapestry effect with recurrent vertical and horizontal elements.
For portraits of women, make the sitter’s face pale and doll-like so that it stands out from an intricately patterned and ornate costume and surroundings. Create the aloof and disdainful expression of a femme fatale. Balance a greenish-grey skin with red lips and rosy cheeks. Add Egyptian-inspired eyes with a spot of white on the pupil to make them more bright and dramatic. Or instead of flesh tones create an equiluminance using turquoise and pink with a yellow ochre imprimatura showing through, finished with fine white linear tasches.
For the background create a dazzling, speckled gold effect by layering a film of shellac and glue over white primer followed by a dark brown glaze. While this is still wet, sprinkle gold, silver and copper flakes over the surface (available from art and craft suppliers).
Olive Tree by Jenny Potter inspired by Klimt's Apple Tree
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