Sunday, June 24, 2018

In the style of Gustav Klimt

My ''Lady in Gold'' 

The mother of a dear friend passed away last year.    I was asked to do a portrait of her.  The only reference photo I had to work with was a photo sent on my mobile phone of a 2x2 inch B&W photo taken perhaps 50 years ago.  


 












Title : In the style of Klimt, Lady in gold
Size :  12"x16"

With this portrait I pay homage to the master Gustav Klimt.   

This project helped me to learn a lot about portraiture as it presented a few challenges; in addition to capturing the likeness ofcourse.  I was working off a photo with only head and shoulders and the values dimmed with age.  Importantly it had to be made into a portrait that would look better than just an enlarged photo.  Added to this was my personal preference for paper collage over other mediums. 

Paper collage in itself would not allow for a very good likeness so it had to be a mixed media.  I have used acrylics for the body and everything else is paper collage on canvas board.  Yes I also added in some Klimt motifs in gold paint into the collaged paper as I had decided to make it in the style of my favourite artist’s golden period.    


Interestingly, the original ‘Woman in Gold’ aka ''Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I'' (54"x 54") is not at the Belvedere Palace in Vienna where most of Klimt’s paintings are. 

It is at the Neue Galerie in New York.  There is very interesting real life story behind this that has been made into a movie.  

You can watch the trailer of the movie here or the real story in documentary format here and as a presentation by Randol Schoenberg here.