“No part of life is so small and insignificant that it does not offer space for artistic aspirations”,

-Gustav Klimt

From our apartment hotel itself, I am surrounded with Judith, Sonja, Amalie, the Lady in White, and of course, Adam and Eve!All of these are the famous subjects of Gustav Klimt´s paintings.All the beauty of women in dashing gold, shimmering dresses and faint facial expressions with nostalgic and dreamy details. One of his paintings dubbed as the Mona Lisa version of Austria- the portrait of ” Adele Bloch-Bauer” or the Woman in Gold. My daughter saw the painting of “Fritza Riedler” in the hallway going to the swimming pool and she shouts to me “Mama, here also are lot´s of Klimt!“

Klimt is a typical Viennese symbol.Visiting Vienna without having a glimpse of Klimt and his works is quite impossible, just like not thinking of music or the Sachertorte.

There is no place in Vienna that does´nt know Gustav Klimt. His works are everywhere and I fully undertstand now why.As I walked the streets of Wien, the more I see his artistic influence and how rich this city when it comes to culture , arts and music. Anybody who is anybody has a work of Klimt hanging in his home. I said to myself that I wanted to see his works by my own eyes and I definitely did.As a personal fan of his artwork, especially “The Kiss” , I spend a lot of time contemplating of his style, his concept and just the natural beauty of the subjects he painted.Looking at his masterpiece made me realize what a talented man he is , to be able to enchant the whole world with his colors, his artistic and poetic interpretations and the way his life contributed to his works.

Here are some of his Artworks that I´ve seen in the Upper Belverdere .

The Upper Belvedere Palace has the permanent display of most of his works. I passed by to the Secession Building but unfortunately, it was closed on Monday so I missed to see his Beethoven Frieze . But then in Belvedere, I´ve got to see 24 of his paintings and some pieces from Monet, Van Gogh and Egon Schiele.

For Klimt, all art was erotic, featuring the beauty and danger of women and the themes of life and death. But come to think of it, seeing a nude body painted doesn´t make it erotic as it is, I think it all depend on how you interpret it. Everything in art is subjective and just like he mentioned, he´d rather focus on whom he is pleasing, rather than how many people is pleased by his art.His portraits are often idealized visions of romantic love. Klimt often depicted women as submissive. But he also painted “femme fatales,” as in the risqué case of Judith or Danae. I am not particularly impressed by his personal lifestyle but I think every artist is who they are and I respected it just the way it is.

Two of Klimt’s paintings are among the top ten most expensive paintings sold at auction. In 2006, Adele Bloch-Bauer I sold for $135 million, at the time an art auction record. In 2017, Oprah Winfrey sold Adele Bloch Bauer II for $150 million. Both paintings were Nazi-looted works featured in the 2015 film Woman in Gold. I personally love paintings with glitters of Gold, this color makes it all bold and alive–not to mention ,grand.

Also there are 20 artworks done by Egon Schiele displayed in Belvedere.I am not so much into his works but the contrast in his work is another thing. His rough human sketches and almost naked life portraits depicts too much emotions , raw expressionism

Egon Schiele was inspired by Klimt as well. But looking at his art techniques, he finally find his own artistic style and Art Nouveau.He was favoured by Klimt and bought some of his works and even helped him in his early days.

Belvedere is a great place for art lovers. I think even if you don´t appreciate art that much and you find visiting a museum in Vienna is boring, the palace of Belvedere is a work of art itself.Everything in Vienna is grand, from palaces to buildings to museums and here–every museum transport you to a different experience.

I thought my daughter would be bored looking at all these artworks but she was quite interested and very keen observant. She has a daily diary where she draw a picture of something that insterests her through the day and jot down things that make her happy.

My travel buddy enjoying her time in the room where the famous painting of Klimt and the “Five Senses” by Hans Makart painted in 1872.

Most of the museums in Vienna are pricey. I find them really expensive. But to think that they are also world class and holds some of the best artworks and masterpieces of the world then I think it´s reasonable to see and chack them out if you have the chance. I normally took our time exploring and avoid tours of large groups so I can pace myself and be flexible with my daughter.

There´s so much art in Vienna that I cannot digest it in a day. Too much of art is also exhilarating. Whenever I look at how grand each buildings, I must say that Vienna is really something.A city full of beauty, musical charm and grandeur. I felt like I was transported in another time.

While in a tram, I saw that the Parliament is undergoing lots of renovations and they are modeling it to be even grander. I wonder how would it look when it´s done. Vienna hold so much history, thanks to the ruch influence made by the Hapsburg dynasty that we are able to enjoy them now.From now,I am talking only of what I´ve only seen in Belvedere, the rest of my art travel I will try to share in my next post.A dream come true for me that I´ve seen Gustav Klimt´s original paintings!

To complete our art walk for the day, we sit by the window admiring the beautiful gardens, sipping tea and enjoying some cake, esp. the Sachertorte!

What do you think of Klimt´s artwork?

Until then, Tschüss.