Gustav Klimt. Eros und Ethos

Category: Books,Arts & Photography,History & Criticism

Gustav Klimt. Eros und Ethos Details

Reviews

With its advanced and turgid text, this is not a good introduction to Klimt or the Vienna of his time. Rather than the basics, which would have better suited a non-art history major like myself, the text bristles with unexplained references, allusion to recondite painting techniques, and brief mentions of intellectual currents of the time, such as Freud and Schnitzler. In other words, unless you are steeped in this culture already, the text is at times a difficult slog.Klimt is portrayed as an experimental artist as well as a transitional figure. On the one hand, he concentrated on Eros as a theme, the chaos of nature as embodied in the female. In doing so, he incorporated a vast number of influences, from the Byzantine mosaics of Ravenna to the Impressionists and Velasquez. If you know what Comini is referring to - and the mini-illustrations that accompany the text are sadly insufficient - it can be very interesting.On the other hand, what he achieved (if I read Comini correctly) is a kind of symbolist art apotheosis as precursor to Expressionism. It was a portrayal, she argues, of the "veil" that separates sensual perception (in symbols and figurative portraiture) and the darker urges unconscious mind. What later artists did (e.g. Kokoscha) was to go directly for the unconscious mind or inner life, rejecting symbols and even figurative background images. I know this sounds obscure or just strange. I think it is kind of dated, a largely Freudian interpretation that was popular through the 1970s.I did learn a fair amount. Klimt was a happy sensualist who experimented a great deal. The references to art history are illuminating, if hard to follow. For example, I know the Ravenna mosaics because I lived near them at one time and studied them. I could really see that Comini's references to them was spot on, a wonderful discovery. What I object to is the impulse to interpret his work with so many value-laden concepts, like phallic desire and the like - leave such things up to the observer!The layout of the book is also poorly done. I found myself flipping through the plates or searching for figures on the text margins almost as much as simply reading. It got annoying at times. Nonetheless, the reproductions are often very good and a supreme pleasure to look at.Recommended with these caveats.

Share this post