In 2012, the art world celebrated the 150th anniversary of the birth of the Austrian painter, Gustav Klimt, through cultural events, and the Peleș National Museum offers art lovers the opportunity to discover the artist's early creations, found in the permanent collection.
“Gustav Klimt and the Kunstlerkompagnie at Peleş Castle”, open to the public between September 15 and December 15, 2012.
The Royal House of Romania, represented by King Carol I, commissioned 26 works for the interiors of Peleş Castle, created between 1883 and 1886 by the Viennese artists Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), Franz Matsch (1861-1943) and Ernst Klimt (1864-1892). At present, Peleş Castle is the only museum in Romania that preserves the paintings of these Austrian creators in its heritage.
But let's find out some biographical facts about Gustav Klimt, considered over the years one of the most important European painters.
The son of a goldsmith, Klimt studied at the School of Applied Arts, which preserved imperial traditions, from 1876. The beginning of his career as a painter was marked by the academic style used in the construction of Vienna's Ring boulevard and the decoration of the buildings that flank it. The artist, together with his brother, Ernst, and his friend, Franz von Matsch, created the decor of many public and private buildings within the “Company of Artists”, which they founded in 1883. Their frescoes from this period, for theaters and palaces, are imbued with the Viennese historicism, the mark of the artists gathered at the “Künstlerhaus”. Later, refusing compromises and true to his own vision, Klimt, together with other artists, left the “Künstlerhaus” in 1897, founding the “Vereinigung Bildender Künstler Österreich”, or “Secession”, of which he was president.
Breaking away from academic and historicist traditions, the members of the new group wanted to promote the iconographic and stylistic originality of each creator, to enrich the Viennese art scene by attuning to European novelties. French, Belgian and Scottish artists were invited to exhibit in Vienna in 1900. Fernand Khnopff, with whom Klimt maintained a close friendship, Jan Toorop and George Minne strongly influenced his work, from an aesthetic point of view.
The work signed by Gustav Klimt, entitled Spring, is located to the left of the royal box, in the Theater Hall of Peleş Castle and is a pendant to the work “Summer”. The composition depicts, in a medium-sized rectangular panel, a seated girl, the allegory of spring, her face being rendered from three-quarters. The general line that dominates the composition is oblique, made by the character. The girl holds a brown/ochre laurel wreath in her hand. The delicate body, partially covered with a drapery attached with a gold chain, in burgundy color, having in the center a decorative motif of oriental, symbolist influence, of hexagonal shape with golden underlines, has in the center a purple flower. The leg that comes out of the frame on the left side closes the composition, while on the opposite side it opens through the two arms holding the crown. The painting has as its pendant the allegory of summer from the panel with the same title. The features of the face and bust are delicate, of pink, brown, pale green hue, the brown/reddish hair is tied with a light brown headband and the black eyes give off a warm look. The background, of ochre/greenish color, decorated with a vegetal landscape formed by brown branches, is loaded with fleshy green leaves and small white flowers (probably apple).
In dividing the composition's planes, the female character represents the volume part, alternating with flat decorative spaces but not devoid of vibrations, both of the drawing (straight or oblique lines) and of the colors (black, white and green).
