The Vienna Secession
The Vienna secession was a breakaway group that consisted of impressionists, modernists, naturalists, etc. they had the same values as those of William Morris of the arts and craft movement and wanted quality, hand crafted products rather than manufactured things. They created their own style by using symmetry and repetition rather than natural forms, and also took some inspiration from the work of Charles Mackintosh and his floral designs(Rosenman, 2017).
Three ages of women, 1905, oil on canvas (Three ages of women Gustav Klimt, 2019)
The artwork above is a famous work of the one and only Gustav Klimt, titled three ages of woman created in 1905. It represents the passing of time and the stages of aging when being a woman. His work mostly featured women (Gustavklimt.net, 2019). Just like most of the other artists in the Vienna secession, he made use of lots of flowers in his art work and sometimes had paintings consisting of only flowers. The inspiration came from Charles mackintosh who painted flowers often. (Rosenman, 2017). His work also mainly has busy backgrounds filled with shapes and patterns yet his figures remain plain like the figures in the artwork above for example. He had a style unique to him, that still fit with the secession. He used natural forms mixed with a bit of geometry. One could say with the colours that he used, he could have had a bit of impressionist in him.
Late Night, 2015, Hope Gangloff, Acrylic and collage.(Expressive colour, 2019)
The contemporary work that I found to discuss is quite similar to that of Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele. Both secession artists. The work is by Hope Gangloff and was created in 2015 with the mediums acrylic paint and collage. The way the face is painted is very similar to the way that Egon Schiele used to paint his portraits and faces. She also took inspiration from Gustav Klimt. When comparing her work with the Gustav Klimt artwork above, similarities such as the busy backgrounds filled with patterns and shapes as well as the extreme use of flowers in the work can be seen. She also made use of a key factor of the secession movement. Repletion of forms and shapes in her work. Therefore, classifying as a modern secession artist. The repetition of line in the work, on the pillow, the floor and on her clothes, as well as the repetition of the flowers and shapes in the background. Overall the work is just as busy as that of Klimt and she made use of bright colours not only in this work but in all her other work, just like he did (Staugaitis, 2018).
Bibliography
Expressive colour (2019). Late Night 2015 Hope Gangloff. [image] Available at: https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2018/04/portraits-by-hope-gangloff/ [Accessed 18 Oct. 2019].
Gustavklimt.net. (2019). Three Ages of Woman by Gustav Klimt. [online] Available at: http://www.gustavklimt.net/three-ages-of-woman/ [Accessed 12 Oct. 2019].
Rosenman, R. (2017). Vienna Secession - A History. [online] Theviennasecession.com. Available at: https://www.theviennasecession.com/vienna-secession/ [Accessed 12 Oct. 2019].
Staugaitis, L. (2018). Expressive Color-Filled Portraits of Friends and Family by Hope Gangloff. [online] Colossal. Available at: https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2018/04/portraits-by-hope-gangloff/ [Accessed 12 Oct. 2019].
Three ages of women Gustav Klimt. (2019). [image] Available at: https://www.gustav-klimt.com/The-Three-Ages-Of-Woman.jsp [Accessed 18 Oct. 2019].
