Product 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #36076 in Books
• Published on: 2006-06-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 239 pages

Review
Parents wishing to instruct teen-agers about the world's great art works will find this series extremely useful -- Elisabeth Sherwin, The Davis (Calif.) Enterprise, March 4, 2001

The series offers a welcome update to older volumes... -- Sarah Raymond, Professionally Speaking: The Magazine of the Ontario College of Teachers, December 2000

This truly outstanding series, a bargain at $14.95 per book, deserves a place in any private, public, or school library -- Kimberly Hundley, Today's Librarian, November 2000

Language Notes
Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German

From the Publisher
A Taschen look at Gustav Klimt, man and artist.

Customer Reviews

Revealing, Educational and Loads of Photos
First of all, the book is not covered as shown in the amazon photo which shows the famous "kiss" painting. The book, apparently updated in 2006, shows a cover photo of Klimt's famous Danae (1907-8) oil on canvas painting. I think this cover is more provacative and more organic and softer than the famed Kiss painting which reveals a couple entwined in gold looking rather stiff. Danae was certainly a better choice for the cover. The book is definitely not written for the casual art reader. It is written with extreme depth as what I'd expect from a historian of the arts on a university research level. As verbose as it is, it has plenty, if not hundreds of photos of the famous works, including all of Klimt's paintings and lesser known sketches. The author discusses several of Klimt's famous paintings in depth and reviews various critics of Klimt's time period as well as Klimt's personal opinions and struggles. Culture, politics, and various movements in the arts is also discussed at length. This book is too deep for the casual browser or reader but makes a great coffee table book if only for the pictures alone. It is a high quality book and the pages are high quality (acid free) and glossy. The painting photos are rich and fully colored, better than other books I've bought on Klimt (where the precious gold paint is reduced to lousy brownish or greenish prints). The gold tones in this book, so famous in Klimt's work, are reproduced extremely well as well as the other vivid colors so characteristic of Klimt's work. It's a bargain to get this book at the price.

Beautiful Color Reproductions!!
Klimt is my favorite artist and yet it is so difficult to find quality reproductions of his works; usually the color is faded or the gold leaf comes out a sickly yellow!! This book has beautiful reproductions and concise and informative explanations next to each painting as well as an interesting biography on Klimt. I highly recommend this book for a clear, concise overview.

great format, poor reproductions
The format of this book is wonderful -- the pages unfold to become full 20x22" images. This is a perfect size for a poster or teaching aid -- IF the image quality weren't so poor! I wanted to like this book, really... but I've seen Klimt's work in person as well as in many other books, and the reproductions here are just so dull and grainy. Rich violets appear brown; the firey red hair in several pieces looks very subdued. "The Kiss", shown on the front cover, shows the couple with skin that is positively green. And the golds that Klimt is famous for, while I appreciate that they must be difficult to photograph, just do not come across.

I would have gladly paid more for this book if the publishers could have reproduced it better. It is obvious they intended this to be a picture book -- there are literally only two pages of writing -- so it would make sense to give the best reproductions possible! Even using a glossy paper instead of the dull matte finish would have given a better presentation.

If you are interested in truly appreciating Klimt and his work, I would recommend Taschen's posterbook for large, good quality reproductions. I also would recommend "Silver, Gold, and Precious Stones" from the Adventures in Art Series. This is geared toward a younger audience, but it beautifully laid out and presented, and actually uses a gold finish on the areas with gold leaf (nice touch!).