Klimt: The Stoclet Frieze Visual & Performing Arts Essay (Essay Sample)

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Gustav Klimt: The Stoclet Frieze
Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) was an Austrian symbolist artist. His focal point was the female body which appears in numerous paintings, sketches, murals, wall mosaics, and other decorative objects. He was a member of the Vienna Succession and a number of his murals decorate public buildings or private houses. This essay aims to discuss the Stoclet Frieze in Brussels through an artistic analysis of the panels depicted, its subjects, and to decode their symbolic meaning. This project is of paramount artistic importance due to the relationship developed between architecture and art. The Stoclet Palace presents a live dialogue between the arts and is a major contribution to the artistic developments of the 20th century.
Gustav Klimt was born on the outskirts of Vienna in a low-class family with artistic aspirations. His father was an engraver and his mother’s dream was to become a musical performer. In 1876, he started studying architectural painting at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna. He was trained according to the techniques of academic and conservative painting. His brother joined him in 1877 and they founded the “Company of Artists” and began to work in commissioned works. His career started by painting ceilings and murals in public buildings. During this time, Vienna was the center of Belle Époque, the fourth European city in terms of population, and the nucleus of an artistic rebirth driven by its prominent citizens, such as Wagner, Mahler, and Freud (Néret 7). This city was Klimt’s studio offering inspiration to create bridges between the reclining world and the new artistic opportunities; to connect tradition and evolution.