This modern masterpiece is self-contained.

Perhaps that's why it doesn't

make us ask any questions, doesn't make us feel we need further
information. It encloses itself. First, it's a square. Klimt loved the
completeness of the square; his dreamlike landscapes are square, too, and
he used a piece of cardboard with a square hole in it - his "finder", he called
it - to select suitably satisfying vistas. The Kiss is a perfectly square canvas
that has no extraneous explanatory context, no narrative. The setting - a
flowery green platform that may be a cliff top, or could be a magic carpet, in
the midst of a golden void - is so simple as to slip into our minds without
registering.

Look at Klimt's portraits of educated, tasteful women. Adele Bloch-Bauer,

portrayed in 1907, is treated to a transfiguration no emperor ever enjoyed.
She becomes gold and silver, a secular version of a medieval icon. Adele's
face, bust and long, serpentine hands are painted with a cool sensuality, her
hair that of a fashionable society woman. So far so real, contemporary and
sophisticated. But her body is monumentalised in cascades of gold and
abstract designs resembling the ancient Egyptian symbol the eye of Horus,
in glittering insignia apparently stamped on the canvas, which give it the
relief texture of a sculpted frieze. None of this is solid, none of it real, as
everything floats in a golden space that is at once the "wall" of the room and
the void of interstellar space. Around her bursts a mist of circles, squares
and swirls.

Ochiul lui Horus, Wedjat sau Udjat (numit ochiul minii, al adevrului absolut) este un simbol
protector, aductor de nelepciune, claritate i luciditate purttorului. [6] Se zice c dac te
foloseti de puterile sale i poi ndeplini orice dorin att n plan material, ct i n cel
sentimental.

Se mai face referire la el ca poarta care conduce spre inutul interior i ctre locurile contiinei
superioare

Se spune c Zeul Horus, pierzndu-i ochiul, a suferit orbirea temporar, n urma unei btlii cu
fratele su Seth.
La fel cum Zeul Horus a reuit, pn la urm, s-i recapete vederea, i ochiul su este un
simbol al triumfului etern asupra rului i sacrificiul pentru adevr i dreptate (legea cosmic
cunoscut ca Zeia Maat).
n acelai timp este i un simbol al celor ce triumf cu orice pre, simboliznd aadar i puterea
regal a faraonului identificat uneori n textele unor papirusuri cu statutul de Zeu.
n continuare legenda se prezint n felul urmtor:
Seth i-a scos ochiul, dar a pierdut lupta. Zeul Thoth a in0tregit ochiul prin magie, apoi Horus i l-a
artat lui Osiris, care i-a dat puterea sa renasc i vindecndu-l prin magia Zeiei Isis.
Ochiul lui Horus include ase elemente potrivit egiptenilor:
1. Simul tactil - linia indic aciunea de a planta o tij n pmnt i care n cele din urm prinde
rdcini.
2. Gustul - din tija plantat la nceput rsare un vlstar care hrnete spiritul i trupul omului.
3. Gndirea - sprnceana care simbolizeaz actul mimic de a ridica sprnceana n timp ce
gndeti.
4. Mirosul - colul ochiului ndreptat spre nas, trasat ca o sgeat hotrt, explica importana
percepiei n formarea de opinii asupra lumii i rafinarea capacitii de clarviziune, de care poate
dispune fiecare dintre noi.
5. Vederea - capacitatea de a vedea lumea dintr-o noua perspectiv, datorit inelepciunii i
clarviziunii pe care ni le ofer Zeul Horus.
6. Auzul - o parte din simbolul Ochiului lui Horus are forma unei plnii pentru a simboliza toate
sunetele i peisajele sonore ale vieii care ne pot satisface sau din contr.

Klimt's Beethoven Frieze insists that happiness is to be found in the senses,

in art and love. It shows the struggle of the soul to find happiness, at first
protected by a knight in shining armour who does battle with the forces of
evil - led by a huge, multiform monster with the face of a gorilla, the body of
a snake and the wings of a bird of prey, and wearing a crown; in its vastness,
inhumanity and heterogeneity, we can see this as a personification of the
empire. The Beethoven Frieze has an extraordinary design; the early stage is
shown in open, unpainted space, then we come smack up against the
clogged, dense obstacle of the monster and his acolytes - Death, Disease, the
Gorgons - crammed into one short wall; then the soul breaks free again into
the realm of freedom disclosed by art. It's not the knight who frees us from
the monster, not political action, but art. The frieze's final vision is one to
which Klimt will keep returning, the one he will consummate in his great
modern icon of 1908: The Kiss. The final scene of the Beethoven Frieze has
lovers embracing in a golden arched pavil ion, while a chorus of floating
angelic figures prays ecstatically. It's called Kiss For The Whole World, a
quotation from Schiller's Ode To Joy, which Beethoven set to music at the
climax of his Ninth Symphony: an image of universal rapture, communion
with the universe in love.

Gustav Klimt Artwork 1: The Kiss

 With The Kiss Klimt created one of the
centre pieces of Vienna art, which is being revered in Vienna like Mona Lisa is at the
Parisian Louvre. Klimt stylises the love between man and woman, dissolving the
classical portrait through rich ornanmental design. Just the two faces close to each other,
a female shoulder, two hands, and two feet are visible, whereas their richly decorated
wide gowns are flowing into one another. The couple stands on a colourful carpet of
flowers. This is not about human bodies any more, but about what holds mankind and
nature together: Love and Beauty.
Where To See It Belvedere Vienna;

Gustav Klimt Artwork 2: Adele Bloch Bauer

Adele Bloch Bauer was an affluent Austrian, the

wife of a local sugar manufacturer and daughter of a bank director. Her husband was one
of the patrons of Klimt. Her portrait resembles a cut and paste art collage, as is typical for
the Golden Period of Gustav Klimt artwork. Space is flattened into a whirl of decorative
patterns. Three dimensional objects, like the chair on which Adele sits, are barely visible.
The painting, dating from Klimts Golden Period was seized by the Nazis during World
War Two. In 2006, Maria Altmann, Adeles niece and rightful heir, received the painting
back per order of court. Ronald Lauder bought the painting in the same year for USD 135
million. It became the second most expensive work of art in the world.
Where To See It New Gallery, Manhattan, New York;

Gustav Klimt Artwork 3: The Klimt Beethoven

Frieze

A symphony in pictures at the Vienna Secession: The

monumental Klimt Beethoven frieze introduces Klimts Golden Period and visualises
Richard Wagners famous interpretation of Beethovens 9th symphony. Joy, passion,
violence, illness, madness, death, the arts, lust and unchastity have been turned into
allegories of sketchy females with mostly big hair, surrounded or covered by rich golden
ornaments. This Kiss To The Whole World, a line fzrom the Ninth Symphony entitles the
frieze. Klimt created the frieze for the 14th exhibition of the Association of Visual Artists of
Austrias Secession in 1902. The naked females and shocking expressions of death,
madness and illness provoked outrage among many Viennese and the broader public.
The frieze covers three walls of a large basement hall at theSecession and is the only
permanent exhibition there.
Where To See It Secession, Karlsplatz, A-1010 Vienna

Gustav Klimt Artwork 4: The Fulfilment

A man and woman deeply embrace each other. But, like with The Kiss, the real message
is in the ornanments which cover them almost entirely. The womans flower dress makes
her the symbol of the earth that melts with the male sun. The male lovers coat is
covered with old Egyption symbols of the sun god. (source: Dr. Christine Pellech) The
whirls in the background represent the tree of life. In The Fulfilment, Klimt expanded the
theme of lovers from the Beethovenfrieze with a meaning that embraces life and the
universe itself. The drawing is based on one of Klimts three mosaic friezes in 15 parts for
the dining room of Brussels-based Stoclet Palace, which had been designed by his
architect friend and fellow Austrian Josef Hoffmann. The other significant mosaic friezes
areExpectation, showing a single woman, and Tree of Life, showing the tree used as a
background in Fulfilment and Expectation.
Where To See It Museum of Applied Arts/Contemporary Art, A-1010 Vienna (drawing):
Stoclet Palace, Brussels (friezes)
Gustav Klimt Artwork 5: Death And Life

Life would be a beautiful dream if there

wasnt death standing right next to it. In his allegory of death and life, Klimt visualises
death as a single nasty threat that stands well apart of life, rather than forming part of it.
Life itself comes in different shapes, from babies to young people and an old woman.
Painted in 1910, the painting was awarded the first prize of the International Art
Exhibtion in Rome a year later. In 1915, he overhauled parts of the painting, such as
the background and some of the ornaments.
Where To See It Sammlung Leopold, Leopold Museum at the Museumsquartier