Mother and Child

Mother and Child

The Kiss

The Tree of Life

Gustav Klimt

(1897-1918)

Gustav Klimts' work are one of those rare masterpieces (if you will agree) that I have encountered to be brilliant. There is something about the sentiment of the paintings that are beautiful and simplistic. The colors are soft-- mostly neutrals; the depth is limited but fascinating. 

Klimts' Mother and Child is maternity at its best. The Mother's adoring hug to her child is captured with true expression. Nudity in most paintings are often vulgar--more obvious to the point of visual interest. In this particular work, we do not notice the naked mother as crude but that it only makes sense that she is naked holding her child. This painting represents motherhood, love, and devotion. It is surrounded by light colors and soft flowers; it is almost as if a woman viewing this would look forward to the beauty of being of a mother. The Tree of Life is another one of my favorites but not as popular with me as Mother and Child and The Kiss. I am drawn to The Tree of Life because the browns mixed in with the oranges. It has so much detail without the complexity of looking detailed. You must stare at it, stop, and come back to keep finding its little eccentricities. This is a painting I would place in my living room to remind myself of its beautiful colors and how much I appreciate it. 

The Kiss will forever be my favorite work of art--ever. It is romantic, colorful, and most of all it "meshes well together." It is as if the two lovers are one. I adore how the two lovers are different shades of skin tone; it represents a sense of belonging to someone else no matter the distinctions. My least favorite part of this painting is the background "brown"; while it brings out the orange surrounding the lovers, I would love to see an adaptation perhaps in turquoise. 

I respect and admire Gustav's work. It moves me because I relate the best with the emotions of his paintings.