“Whoever wants to know something about me ought to look carefully at my pictures and try to see in them what I am and what I want to do.”
This week, Art in Action was inspired by Gustav Klimt’s birch tree masterpieces:
Gustav Klimt , Farmhouse with Birch Trees painted in 1903
and Gustav Klimt Fir forest 1 Painted in 1901
Gustav Klimt was born in 1862 near Vienna in Austria-Hungary. His mother Anna Finster was a music lover and his father, Ernst Klimt was a gold engraver. Gustav was the second of seven children – three boys and four girls. All three sons displayed artistic talent from a young age. Klimt lived in poverty for most of his childhood, as work was scarce.
In 1876, Gustav was awarded a scholarship to the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts and he received formal training in traditional artistic techniques and methods until 1883. In 1877 his brother Ernst, also enrolled in the school and they formed an artistic team with their friend, Franz Matsch and called themselves Künstler-Compagnie (Artists’ Company). They received several commissions and painted murals in one of Vienna’s museums. In the 1880s, Klimt became well-known for his mural painting. He received the Golden Order of Merit from the Austrian Emperor for his murals in the Burgtheater, Vienna. In 1888, Klimt received the Golden order of Merit from Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria for his contributions to murals painted in the Burgtheater in Vienna. Klimt also became an honorary member of the University of Munich and the University of Vienna.
Gustav’s brother, Ernst, and father both died in 1892. This brought about a change in Gustav’s artistic style. Gustav assumed financial responsibility for his father’s and brother’s families. The tragedies affected his artistic vision as well, and soon he would veer toward a new personal style. In the early 1890s, Klimt met Emilie Flöge, who, was to be his companion until the end of his life.
Klimt’s work is often distinguished by elegant gold or coloured decoration, spirals and swirls. He had a wide range of influences including Egyptian, Classical Greek and Byzantine inspirations. Klimt worked slowly and precisely on each painting, particularly on his later works when he applied tiny bits of gold leaf to his paintings. His work shows a freedom of art from the traditional and classical art of his day.
Klimt’s paintings have brought some of the highest prices recorded for individual works of art. In 2006, his portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer was purchased for $135 million and is one of the highest reported prices ever paid for a painting. It was purchased and generously donated to the Neue Galerie in New York by Ronald Lauder.
Gustav Klimt died on Feb 6th, in the year 1918 at the age of 55 in Vienna.
Students created their own birch tree forest with white oil pastels; which was challenging because you can’t really see the application of the white oil pastel until after the waster colour is applied. The white oil pastels are like invisible ink. By using the horizon line as a guide for placement. students created birch tress in the foreground, middle ground and background. Salt was added to the watercolours of earthy yellow, orange and brown tones at the bottom of the painting to render the likeness of a forest floor in fall. Using a dancing watercolour brush, students created a canopy of leaves on tops of the trees and finished up the markings of the birch tree with black oil pastel.
Take a look at these unique masterpieces created by some of our students – they really makes me feel like I am about to go for a walk in a birch tree forest; the leaves on the ground just waiting for someone to kick up a few into the fall crisp air.
“Wild is the music of the autumnal winds amongst the faded woods.”
-William Wordsworth