Klimt. The man, the artist, his world
Everything centers around a female portrait and takes place in the city that hosts the canvas, painted between 1916 and 1917 by Gustav Klimt: Portrait of a lady is exhibited in the spaces of the Ricci Oddi Gallery of Modern Art and of the XNL – Piacenza Contemporanea of the homonymous province of Emilia Romagna.
The review Klimt. The man, the artist, his world open until July 24th, through 160 worksamong paintings, sculptures, graphics, decorative art artifacts, aims to rewrite a story around the canvas of the great Austrian painter, founder and greatest exponent of Viennese Secession. Created with the aim of renewing the state of the Austrian visual arts through the organization of international exhibitions.
A career that from the initial successes for the decoration of the theaters of the monarchy and of the important buildings in the ring of Vienna, through the historicism of art nouveau, led Klimt to become the most sought after portrait painter in Viennese high societyand with that use of gold he presented himself as the embodiment of the glories of the empire.
A happy vision, then in a flash, with the First World War, from prosperity we passed to the Apocalypse.
Vittorio Zecchin The princesses and the warriors, 1914 Venice, Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia
A story that begins with the cultural and artistic models in which the painter moves: that world populated by nymphs, centaurs, sirens, satyrs, crossed by demonic elements and dark instinctual forces painted by the symbolists. Climate anticipator Felicien Rops, with works that mix eros and mysticism. Then the universe inhabited by ghostly and distressing visions of Edvard Munchas in the engravings on display.
From a segment of the exhibition focused on early works together with his brother Ernst and friend Franz Matsch, we move on to the moment of the great renewal of the Viennese Secession with works also by Moserwhich are flanked by a section with a series of advertising posters for the Secession exhibitions and another that collects items of silverware, jewelery, glass and metal vases, furniture and furnishings.
Klimt Portrait of a lady with a red background, 1897 1898 © Klimt Foundation, Vienna
A splendid gallery of portraits and female figuresby Klimt, not always but often idealized rather than depicting real people, accompanies the room where the only protagonist is Portrait of a ladythe oil with the original title Backfisch – in colloquial German adolescent – which belongs to the last phase of the artist’s activity. He has now moved away from the dazzling golden stylizations that characterized his works until the first decade of the twentieth century.
Some curious mystery hovers around the canvas: not only did it disappear for years, but in 1996 it was discovered that Backfisch it was painted over a previous portrait of a young woman, same pose, identical face, but with a large hat, a boa around the neck and a light scarf.
Gustav Klimt Portrait of a Lady, 1916 17 Piacenza, Ricci Oddi Modern Art Gallery
After a section dedicated to the works of Egon Schiele e Oskar Kokoschkathe exhibition ends with the impact of Klimt’s work on the taste of Italian visual art.
Among the admirers of Klimt the young man Felice Casorati who after 1910 will create works related to symbolism: allegorical and spiritual subjects, mainly female figures, such as “The dream of the pomegranate” and the very delicate “Nudino” canvas on display. As well as the thin fairy tale “Princesses”, gold-quilted sheets, made by Vittorio Zecchinfascinated by the linear elegance of Klimt, to tell the story of a thousand and one nights in the lounge of a Venetian hotel.
Gustav Klimt Head of a Woman Incomplete 1917 Linz, Lentos Kunstmuseum
Always surrounded by so many women who covered the most varied roles in his life, dispensing family care, acting as organizers and offering, of course, erotic stimuli, Klimt had six children from three different women. A brain stroke took him away at the 56-year-old, also marking the end of their three parallel and unequal lives.
Koloman Moser Naked young man standing among the rocks, around 1915 © Belvedere, Vienna
Klimt. The man, the artist, his world
Ricci Oddi Modern Art Gallery – Via San Siro, 13 Piacenza
April 12 – July 24, 2022
Hours: every day from 10.00 to 19.0
Infoline: 0523 17986 – www.klimtpiacenza