WRITING AND FILMING THE PAINTING: KLIMT’S WORLD IN FEMALE PAINTING

Abstract

Fin-de-siècle Vienna is marked by the division of its multicultural population into two categories: on the one side, there are the conservatives who refuse to let go of the past and move forward, and on the other side, there are the visionaries, the revolutionary spirits who demand a modern capital for their empire and an avant-garde society in which truth and freedom prevail. In their work, artists seek to construct the image of the modern man which serves as an example for people to follow. At the same time, in the medical field, a new domain is explored, the essence of humanity is questioned, and Freud’s psychoanalysis comes to life. Therefore, the modern man is not defined in terms of appearance; instead, the modern man focuses on his psyche. The concept of core over façade is then applied to literature, visual arts and architecture: truth must be revealed. It is in this context that Gustav Klimt’s vision is born: truth is the new beauty and beauty comes in female form, so truth can only be conveyed by women. In a patriarchal society where passivity and virtue establish women’s roles, where “the majority of the human species lives on the dark side of the moon; unseen, unknown, unstudied, without history” (Weldon, Big Girls Don’t Cry, 1997: 100), giving centre stage to the female form is, if not an act of madness, the most daring artistic move one can take. His representations of womanhood, his exploration of the naked female form and its eroticism, his unexpected juxtaposition of all these elements with artistic and social codes do not display only his fascination for the female body, but also his support for the women’s Reform Movement. The current paper demonstrates that, by making women his messengers, Klimt endows them with the power to change perception, worldview, and influencing thus the very essence of the modern man. Since man cannot progress into modernity without being true to others and to himself, and that implies accepting and fuelling women’s emancipation, the only way to break free from the shackles of the past is by positioning the woman not under or behind him, but next to him. In this sense, the first part of the paper reveals Klimt’s liaisons with the most important women in his life. From a young Klimt experimenting with sketching and with love, to a fully developed artist exploiting the complex female imagery immersed in gold, one thing remains constant: his world is outlined by the female form. During this evolution, one loyal person stands by his side – Emilie; together they form an extremely powerful and fruitful symbiosis – she is his muse, he motivates her to open a fashion salon, they love each other and their relationship is based on honesty. However, when it comes to love, Klimt’s vision is often dark and his paintings display it rather as a destructive force than a satisfying feeling. Part two of the current paper highlights an array of Klimt’s creations and explains how events in his personal life affected his worldview. While truth governs art, the aesthetics of beauty are revolutionized and the female body becomes its mirror; Klimt’s rejection of Historicism translates into his bold use of symbolism and his expression of freedom – depicting the human body in all its forms and stages. As a founding member of the Wiener Sezession, through his art Klimt invites to individual and collective introspection, a process which results in the surfacing of truth. The second section of the paper also exhibits the contemporary character of Klimt’s vision by analysing the mediation of Medicine, one of Klimt’s most disputed works, in both a film and a documentary which confer the painting an unexpected meaning, a transitional function and a whole new (digitalized) face. All in all, the paper illustrates that Klimt’s world doesn’t only unfold in female form, but Klimt’s world is female form.