Reviews
Gustav Klimt: The Complete Paintings is a grand production in every way: the most comprehensive book on Klimt's art, the most up-to-date information, the most profuse detail illustrations and the most carefully designed book on its topic. Its grand size matches the ambition of its publisher. The reprinting of this lavish book once again makes available a publication that is both attractive and a serious piece of scholarship and analysis. Gustav Klimt: The Complete Paintings is a magnificent publishing achievement and allows the ordinary person to come as close to possible to actually owning a Klimt painting. With its large colour reproductions of details, one can get closer to the paintings than is possible in a museum. This opulent book is the perfect embodiment of the art of Klimt. This is a book he would have been proud of., This book is simply stunning. The works are beautifully reproduced - this monograph is not to be missed., ...one of the most covetable books ever. The reproductions are breathtakingly good, as are the excellent essays and commentaries on paintings., ...as the arresting imagery in this comprehensive tome attests, Klimt's liberated vision of modern beauty and femininity lives on., In every way an indispensible contribution to research... brilliant foldouts provide large views, while individual enlargements grant fascinating insight into the detail., Gustav Klimt is perhaps best known for his use of gold leaf in intricate paintings. His life's work is still celebrated today for the beauty, sense of sorrow and passion that he was able to capture in a single portrait. It has been 150 years since Klimt's birth and the launch of his complete works reveals his ideas and creative genius in one impressive volume.
Synopsis
Over a century after his death, Viennese artist Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) still startles with his unabashed eroticism, dazzling surfaces, and artistic experimentation. This monograph gathers all of Klimt's major works alongside authoritative art historical commentary and privileged access to the artist's archive. With top quality illustration, including new photography of the celebrated Stoclet Frieze, the book follows Klimt through his prominent role in the Secessionist movement of 1897, his candid rendering of the female body, and his lustrous "golden phase" when gold leaf brought a shimmering tone and texture to such beloved works as The Kiss and Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I, also known as The Woman in Gold. Through luminous spreads and carefully curated details, the monograph traces the repertoire of Japanese, Byzantine, and allegorical stimuli that informed Klimt's flattened perspectives, his symbolic vocabulary, and his mosaic-like textures. Drawing upon contemporary critics and voices, the book also examines the art world's polarized reception to Klimt's pictures as much as his own stylistic trajectory. From his landscape painting to erotic works to the controversial ceiling for the Great Hall of the University of Vienna, we see how Klimt's admixture of tradition and daring divided the press and public--becried by some as a pornographer, hailed by others as a modern maestro., During his lifetime, Gustav Klimt was a controversial star whose works made passions run high. He stood for Modernism but he also embodied tradition. His pictures polarized and divided the art-loving world. The press and general public alike were split over the question: For or against Klimt? This monograph explores Klimt's oeuvre with particular emphasis upon such contemporary voices. With a complete catalogue of his paintings, including new photographs of the Stoclet Frieze commissioned exclusively for this book, it examines the reactions to Klimt's work throughout his career. Subjects range from Klimt's portrayal of women to his adoption of landscape painting. The theory that Klimt was a man of few words who rarely put pen to paper is also dispelled with the inclusion of 179 letters, cards, writings, and other documents from the artist.Contributing authors: Evelyn Benesch, Marian Bisanz-Prakken, Rainald Franz, Anette Freytag, Christoph Grunenberg, Hansj rg Krug, Susanna Partsch, Angelina P tschner, and Michaela Reichel, Fall under the spell of Gustav Klimt. The complete catalogue of his paintings, including new photographs of the Stoclet Frieze, this book follows the Viennese master through his prominent role in the Secessionist movement, his candid rendering of the female body, and the lustrous "golden phase" behind such shimmering works as The Kiss and Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I.
