Gustav Klimt Exhibition

Yesterday I went to the Gustav Klimt exhibition at the Seoul Art Centre.

The exhibition was well worth it. Considering the works presented, there is unlikely to be another Klimt exhibition of this sort in Asia. Many of the works are from private collection.

Klimt (1862-1918) was an Austrian artist. He was a Symbolist painter. Symbolist art is basically Romanticist art, just darker -- more gothic and spiritual.

I was extremely impressed by Klimt's skill. What was most striking for me is how he has completely mastered the use of negative space. In his work the negative space is just as provocatively and effectively employed, as the application of any line or paint. Speaking of line, Klimt really had sketching down to perfection. Not for a moment does that imply that his painting skills were less worthy. On the contrary, while much of his later work tended to lean towards two dimentional abstraction, Klimt was a master at life-like portraits. In some of the portraits the jewelry of the sitters are so lucid one can almost take them off of the canvases.

Part of the exhibition is the Beethoven Friese, a fresco covering three walls. It is truly a majestic piece of art, full of allegorical symbolism and again, Klimt's amazing use of negative space. Typical of Klimt's ouvre is his use of gold. This is especially effectively used in the Beethoven Friese.

The exhibition also included many of his studies for some of his famous painting, as well as a whole section devoted to his surprisingly explisit erotic studies of the female nude. In many of the erotic studies the vagina is the focal point. The female is a paradoxical symbol for Klimt. She is both the femme fatale, but also the life bearer.

Going to such quality exhibitions is probably one of the best things I enjoy about Korea. I cannot imagine attending an exhibition of this size, of a master like Klimt, in in South Africa. Even if such an exhibition were to come to South Africa it would probably be hosted somewhere that is not easily accessible from where I live. For this reason I really try to make the most of my current opportunities.