Editorial Reviews

Book Description

The Kiss of Klimt: the most fascinating painter of Vienna’s Belle Epoque ...
Gustav Klimt’s art is thoroughly fin de siècle.It expresses the apocalyptic atmosphere of Vienna’s upper-middle-class society — a society devoted to the cultivation of aesthetic awareness and the cult of pleasure.

The ecstatic joy which Klimt (1862–1918) and his contemporaries found — or hoped to find — in beauty was constantly overshadowed by death, and death therefore plays an important role in Klimt’s art. Klimt’s fame, however, rests on his reputation as one of the greatest erotic painters and graphic artists of his times.

Particularly his drawings, which have been widely admired for their artistic excellence, are dominated by the erotic portrayal of women. Klimt saw the world "in female form." Author Gottfried Fliedlalso discusses the Secession movement and Klimt’s role within this important group of artists.

About the Author

The author: After studying art history in Vienna and Marburg, Gottfried Fliedl accepted a lectureship at the Academy of Applied Art in Vienna, where he taught for 10 years before becoming a lecturer in museology at the Universities of Klagenfurt and Vienna.



Product Details
Hardcover: 239 pages
Publisher: Taschen; Taschen 25 Anniversary Ed edition (August 2, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN: 3822850160
Product Dimensions: 12.1 x 9.6 x 0.9 inches
Shipping Weight: 3.43 pounds