Reviews (2)

u dont get it
every other review of this book has dumbfounded me. they dont get the concept of the book at all. i hear all the negative reviews, but for the wrong reasons, the book is brilliant and the best klimt out there and here's why. It's a window into the genius's mind, we get to see all of his sketches to each corresponding piece. for any real artist it's a jewel of composition, type design, and beautiful ideas. the people who want books of the famous pieces, are the same people who like the force fed music the radio stations give them and the women who wear broaches on sunday when they go for the annual museum outing (no offence grandma) . welcome to thinking for yourself. and finding out how gustav klimt thinks. good book....

Incomplete illustrations
I fell in love with Klimt after a trip to Vienna. This book was the first I purchased in hopes of taking some of his work with me, but I was sorely disappointed. Little of his most recognized work is included. Although the information was good, the illustrations were lacking. ... Read more

Book Description

Gustav Klimt's unique style combines sensuality, realism, and spirituality to make his work recognizable and among the most popular in the history of art.His primary focus on women has led to the most ethereal portraits and murals ever produced.The text explores Vienna at the turn of the century and Klimt's importance in its society and within the context ofthe modern art movement.60 + color illustrations, faithfully reproduced. ... Read more

Reviews (11)

great format, poor reproductions
The format of this book is wonderful -- the pages unfold to become full 20x22" images. This is a perfect size for a poster or teaching aid -- IF the image quality weren't so poor! I wanted to like this book, really... but I've seen Klimt's work in person as well as in many other books, and the reproductions here are just so dull and grainy. Rich violets appear brown; the firey red hair in several pieces looks very subdued. "The Kiss", shown on the front cover, shows the couple with skin that is positively green. And the golds that Klimt is famous for, while I appreciate that they must be difficult to photograph, just do not come across.

I would have gladly paid more for this book if the publishers could have reproduced it better. It is obvious they intended this to be a picture book -- there are literally only two pages of writing -- so it would make sense to give the best reproductions possible! Even using a glossy paper instead of the dull matte finish would have given a better presentation.

If you are interested in truly appreciating Klimt and his work, I would recommend Taschen's posterbook for large, good quality reproductions. I also would recommend "Silver, Gold, and Precious Stones" from the Adventures in Art Series. This is geared toward a younger audience, but it beautifully laid out and presented, and actually uses a gold finish on the areas with gold leaf (nice touch!).

re-creating ancient Greek myth in art
Gustav Klimt loved to draw women--men were just a prop, and rarely depicted in his work. He drew some of the most beautiful and dream-like pictures of women I have ever seen. Except for his society portraits, his women are always mythological, often nude, and sometimes very pretty. His painting style was very complex, colorful and elaborate, very decorative and intricate, full of symbolism and ancient mythical archetypes and motifs. Although a quiet man himself, Klimt's creative soul was very expressive. This book contains his best paintings, as well as a few surprises, like erotic drawings of women "playing with themselves."

David Rehak
author of "A Young Girl's Crimes"

Good, but....
Klimt's art, whether one is a fan or not, is seen everywhere. Rarely can one spend much time in a college dormitory before running into "The Kiss" or another poster of Klimt. This book itself is a nice collection of his various artworks over his career. However, the text leaves much to be desired. To the author's credit, he avoids taking at face value many of the risque rumors that surround Klimt's life. Instead, the author attempts to psychoanalyze him, and the "crisis of the male liberal ego." This seems quite a trick, as the author even admits that Klimt was rather reticient about talking about himself or leaving a paper trail of his life. As such, and especially by removing the rumors from the equation, the author seems to have blessed little to go on to try and delve into Klimt's mind. In this regard, I must agree with Barzun - this type of psychological history is questionable at best. If you do consider purchasing this work, do it for the artwork - don't bother yourself with the text.

Open your eyes . . .
I had no knowledge of this artist before receiving this book as a Christmas gift. What a wonderful, enlightening book!

The book has large plates of about 40 works, and smaller black and white prints of some others (including a number that were destroyed in a 1945 fire). The contrast between the exquisitely expressive faces, drawn with the precision of a renaissance master, and the wild, unrestrained clothing and background is captivating.

The author provides a good biography and helpful insights into the allegorical interpretation of the various works. A real bargain here.

luxuriously recreated prints from one of the masters!
klimt's work is endlessly fascinating... its eroticism, its mythological references, its composition. klimt captures the power and symbolism of color and shape in a way that is unique amongst artists in the canon. his images are not merely pictures of women (and a few men), but stories with complicated layers of meaning. all this delicate beauty could be easily lost in printing, but this book has somehow managed to preserve it, and it is amazing! the text gives biographical and historical context, which is always helpful, and even ventures into analysis -- i enjoy knowing other people's perspectives, because it helps me to read deeper into what i'm seeing. all the master works are here, as well as many treasures that are often overlooked. if you are interested in art nouveau, art history, symbolism in art, and/or art history you really should own this book. believe me, it is well worth the price -- i wasn't expecting much for (the price), and would have willingly paid much more. i wish i had it in hardback though... ... Read more

Book Description

This visually stunning collection of all Klimt’s landscape paintings and drawings brings to light a little-known aspect of the Viennese painter’s oeuvre, proving that his mastery extends beyond portraiture, and revealing themes that appeared throughout his life’s work. ... Read more

Book Description

The finest drawings of the celebrated Austrian artist—mostly nudes and seminudes taken in part from rare portfolios of 1919 and 1964—reveal the dynamics of the line in representing the human figure spontaneously and freely. Introduction.
... Read more

Reviews (4)

The simplistic beauty of a continual line
Gustav Klimt is amazing. I love his work and I have most recently become more intrigued by his ideas and sketches. If you like Klimt, check out Auguste Rodin, and Egon Schiele also. They all have similar sketch stylizes and imagery. I am an art major and I specialize in painting portraits, so Klimt's sketches are a natural way for me to go. I love his work so I loved this book but as another reviewer stated, the images were too light. The drawings were awfully faint and on gray paper, I would have liked them to be printed darker or at least on white paper. Also there were a lot of his major sketches for his masterpieces missing that I've found in other books. Over all it's a very good book for a nice price.

ga ga for gustav
this is an amazing book! as an amateur graphic artist, this has been an invaluable reference and inspiration to me. all of the drawings are of figures, mostly women, mostly naked. they were largely done without direction to his models while they lounged around his loft so they are very intimate, sensual, and sometimes erotic.
his style is so lucid, i can stare at the images forever. the line is so smooth and light(usually pencil, sometimes charcoal), that the images seem like stencils. the body is basically a contour drawing and then the hair is captured in typical art nouveau style, with stylized strands moving in one direction.
i can't say enough about this book. the work is so simple and stunning...when i try to relate what it means to me, i can't think of a thing to say.

A piece of paper, a pencil and a woman lying in bed
What more is there to it? Maybe that's all art's good for: giving you a hard time. I thought the reproductions in this book were a little faded and that's why i gave it four stars and not five, as the drawings deserved. Also, i did not found some drawings i was sure to find here. Great if you want an introduction to Klimt, the explicit erotic artist.

A Great View of Klimt's Intuition
These 100 drawings are essential for any student of Klimt's work. Given that many times it is this stage of his work that is under-represented in books on his art, this book is advantageous. I've been looking at Klimt for years, and many times I've marveled at his intuitive, initial marks; they are records of a man obsessed with obervational drawing. The drawings in this book, rarely seen, are great examples of the first and most direct marks he would use and they attest to his amazing skill. They shed light on the finished works while standing nicely on their own. Even though the works shown here represent only a minute fraction of his drawings (thousands littered his studios at any given time), these particular pieces provide a unique view of this controversial artist. A good purchase. ... Read more

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

In accompaniment with the exhibition held by the National Gallery of Canada comes Gustav Klimt: Modernism in the Making. This powerhouse of a book spans the life and work of the famousAustrian painter who is well-known, even now, for his dramatic work,"The Kiss." This beautiful tome includes four chapters, by fourdifferent art historians, on the background and importance of Klimt'swork, plus two sections devoted to the works in the exhibition,including a page of detailed commentary on each of the paintings.

As a student, Klimt was trained in the decorative arts. He quickly became known for his blending of both high and low art styles, a rather controversial movement at the turn of the century. His graphic shapes and colors became one of his signatures and hold his paintings together like sublime art nouveau glue. Though popular enough at the time tohave been commissioned to create murals and friezes for grandbuildings, Klimt did not escape public criticism for the heavy sexualcontent of his work. Klimt's symbolic paintings about life and deathare full of images of nude women, young, old or pregnant, and couplesand groups intertwined. These colorful, sensual, and elegant paintingsremain fascinating symbols of fin-de-siècle Europe. --J.P. Cohen ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A FRESH LOOK AT KLIMT'S WOMEN
This small volume is almost a tapestry of the vibrant colors the artist used in his unparalleled depictions of women. Termed by some the enfant terrible of turn-of-the-century Vienna, his work nonetheless often represented the confounding relationship between artist and society women at that time.

A lifelong bachelor and known profligate, Klimt was eclectic in his tastes, showering his favors upon wealthy patrons as well as poor models.

Although still a controversial figure, letters that have come to light in recent years allow the author to reexamine Klimt's relationships and offer readers a fresh look at the paintings inspired by these women. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description

Viennese artist Gustav Klimt expressed his dedication to the theme of"woman" throughout his life--in his early historical paintings, in allegorical depictionsand erotic drawings, and in classic large female portraits. This gorgeously illustratedbook offers for the first time a survey of Klimt's approach to the female form and sets hiswork in the context of fundamental social changes at the turn of the century. Distributedfor Dumont, Cologne ... Read more

Book Description

Another title from The Crown Art Library, the most useful monographs available on a wide range of significant artists. Each volume is written by an internationally recognized authority and is generously illustrated with full-color reproductions of the artist's paintings and two-color reproductions of sketches and line drawings. ... Read more