The J. Paul Getty Museum presents Gustav Klimt. The Magic of Line on view July 3–September 23, 2012.
Gustav Klimt Fishblood, 1898. India ink and pen on brown paper. Unframed: 40 x 40.3 cm (15 3/4 x 15 7/8 in.). Private collection, courtesy Galerie St. Etienne, New York. EX.2012.3.15.
This retrospective is the first fully dedicated to the drawings of Gustav Klimt (1862–1918), one of the seminal figures in modern art. Gustav Klimt: The Magic of Line, Drawings from the Albertina Museum, Vienna explores the stylistic evolution of his drawings as well as their centrality to his artistic enterprise. Indeed, Klimt’s paintings cannot be understood without careful consideration of his drawings, which also play a semi-autonomous role in his artistic output. Based upon assiduous study of the human figure, they are characterized by an unsurpassed mastery of line during all phases of his artistic development. This major loan exhibition was organized by the Albertina Museum, Vienna, in association with the J. Paul Getty Museum, to mark the 150th anniversary of Klimt’s birth.
Klimt (Austrian, 1862–1918), the father of Viennese modernism, is renowned for his ornate paintings, but he was also an exceptionally innovative and gifted draftsman. Featuring more than 100 drawings, many having never before been exhibited in North America, this
exhibition traces Klimt’s radical evolution from early academic realism and historical subjects in the mid 1880s to his celebrated modernist icons that broke new ground in the beginning of the 20th century.
More information at www.getty.edu