Gustav Klimt - Lady with fan

Gustav Klimt

1862, Baumgarten, Austria - 1918, Vienna

DESCRIPTION

chromolithograph 70 x 50 cm, signed lower right, under frame, "GUSTAV KLIMT"; numbered lower left, under frame, in pencil, "18/200"; embossed stamp of the publishing house "TREC", Italy; COA

DETAILS

One of the most representative Symbolist painters of the 20th century, a member of the Vienna Secession and a prominent figure of the Art Nouveau movement, Gustav Klimt devoted his work to easel painting, mural painting, and graphic art. Born in Baumgarten, near Vienna, he created numerous murals for important buildings in Europe, including Peleș Castle in Sinaia. The oil version of the present work, created in his last year of life (1918), reveals a passionate art, full of emotion, with profound Asian influences, in a distinct and modern style. The background can be interpreted as a reminiscence of his famous and much-loved golden period, from which we particularly recall "The Kiss" or "Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer". The chromatic exuberance, rendered mainly through the protagonist's clothing, or through the illustration of birds and flowers; as well as the Japanese inspiration in creating this vibrant background converge towards the elaboration of a special work. "Woman with Fan" stands out as a celebration of beauty - both human beauty, represented by the artist's muse (whose identity we do not know), and the splendor and spectacle of flora and fauna. The preference for high-society ladies, who embody and immortalize opulence through diaphanous faces, becomes a distinct mark of the artist's style. The explosion of interconnected patterns and the choreography of textures succeed each other in an alternation of colors and ornaments that give the work a cordial breath.