Landscapes of Gustav Klimt, which are known only to true connoisseurs of his work

The whole world knows Gustav Klimt, as the greatest Austrian artist, whose main subject of creations was the female body, for the most part distinguished by frank eroticism and decorative artistic performance. And speaking of Klimt, one immediately remembers his "Kiss", "Golden Adele", "Three ages of a woman", "Expectation", "Intoxicating" … However, today we will talk about the picturesque landscapes of the Austrian artist, which few people know about.

, - this is how Gustav Klimt himself, the world famous Austrian artist, the founder of Art Nouveau in Austrian painting, described his work.

And it is landscapes that are a completely different facet of the painter's work, which Klimt turned to as a rather mature master when he was over thirty. And needless to say that they are unique and inimitable in their performance, like everything else created by the artist. As a rule, he worked on them sporadically, during summer trips to Lake Attersee. And what is interesting, the landscape genre in the artistic heritage of Klimt was not much, not a little, almost a quarter of his works. To be more precise, there are 50 unique paintings.

Klimt's landscape painting can be called endless, and it can be viewed not only as an object, but also as works of applied art. Here Klimt also managed to erase the boundaries between different types and genres, and in fact between "pure" and "functional" art.

This desire of the author is quite understandable. The artist's father was a jeweler, and Gustav Klimt himself studied applied art at the School of Art and Industry, where he became seriously interested in mosaics. A trip to the Italian Ravenna in 1903, where the master saw with his own eyes the golden mosaics, contributed to the beginning of the "golden period" in his work.

Floral carpet glades overloaded with decorative style. Ornamental mosaics of orchards, pine forests and birch groves. Glowing reflections in the lakes - this and much more can be seen in the endless landscape works of the master. The canvases, literally covered with a complex pattern very close to the ornament, are subordinated to stylization, mosaicism and decorativeness. The artist seems to reveal to the viewer another side of the perception of the world - an unusual and bright one.

Why are the landscapes of Klimt at world auctions nowadays?

The decorative canvas "Blooming Garden" was the first work of Klimt, sold at an auction in Europe over the past 20 years. And it was described by representatives of the auction house as "one of the greatest masterpieces of the artist that has ever been exhibited at auction."

The Blooming Garden by Gustav Klimt sold at Sotheby's in March 2017 for a record $ 59 million (£ 48 million) was the third most expensive piece of art ever sold in Europe. The first place was rightfully taken by Alberto Giacometti's sculpture "The Walking Man", sold for 65 million pounds, and the second - "Beating the Innocents" by Peter Paul Rubens, for 49.5 million pounds.

On the American art market, Klimt's works appear much more often than on European ones. So, at the auction of Sotheby's in New York in 2011, the landscape "Litzlberg on Atterse" by Klimt was sold for $ 40.4 million. The canvas became the most expensive lot of the auction. although the organizers initially hoped for revenue of no more than $ 25 million.

This piece failed to break the record for the landscape auctioned in winter 2010 - "The Church in Cassonne". The painting went under the hammer for $ 43.2 million.

Concluding the statistics of record sales of Klimt's paintings, I would like to note that the most expensive work of the brilliant artist is "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I". It is, according to unofficial data, is the most expensive creation in the world, not sold at a public auction. According to press reports, in 2006, the portrait was purchased for a record $ 135 million for a painting by American entrepreneur Ronald Lauder for the New Gallery he founded in New York.

Bonus

Today I would like to show the reader another Klimt, whom few also know. Namely, the work of Gustav Klimt of the early period, when in technical terms he was almost perfect, and his creations are amazingly realistic. Over the years, in search of his own style and handwriting, he will come to planar ornamental technique, depicting not only portraits, but also landscapes.

And what is curious, according to the fate of the famous master, there were more than one hundred women: noble and rich, beggars and prostitutes, modest women and libertines, who inspired and posed for Gustav Klimt. He could find an approach to everyone and call for reciprocity. This and much more you can read in a fascinating overview of the artist's life.