On June 20, 2006, with the crisp sound of the wooden hammer in the auctioneer's hand, the representative of the Vienna Secession, Austrian painter Gustav Klimt's "Adna Bloch-Bauer" Portrait of Madame (1907 title) sold for $135 million, the highest price ever paid for a single painting, higher than the price set by Picasso's "Boy with a Pipe" (1905) in May 2004. The record $104.16 million is more than 30 million more, which is a staggering number. Of course, we cannot arbitrarily say that the latter painting is not as good as the former, as we do with ordinary commodities. Even if the works of the same period and the same style, it is difficult and unnecessary for us to distinguish who is superior and who is inferior. Because they each have their own characteristics and uniqueness. There is no need to distinguish between Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael, let alone the difference between the Mona Lisa and the Sistine Madonna. To analyze specific problems in detail. There is a touching story behind many famous paintings. Therefore, when introducing this painting, we first reveal its little-known story, and then look at its stylistic features, innovations and uniqueness.
Bloch-Bauer (photo 2, taken in 1910, was born into a wealthy family. He was tall, with a high nose, thick eyebrows and long face, and his hair was black and curled on his head, which matched his face very well. He was a kind of high society at that time.) Stylish. She is reserved, showing the nobility and elegance of a lady, and a famous beauty. Her husband, Ferdinand, is the owner of a large sugar factory, and Bloch-Bauer has inherited from his father. They have a lot of money and are rich. They both love literature and art, and they are well-known art patrons in Austria. They often hold salon evenings at home. Painting masters such as Schiele and Kokoschka are frequent guests of her home. Mrs. and Klimt The relationship is very close, and there has been an ambiguous relationship for more than ten years. This is a celebrity affair that was only made public not long ago. The artist has painted at least two portraits of her. This portrait alone took three years. For a long time, there are still some habitual sketches, which is really painstaking.
The first impression of the painting is that it is glittering and magnificent. Extensive use of gold powder and gold leaf is the most prominent feature of this painting. Gold actually accounts for more than 90% of the entire screen. Only the skin of the characters' faces, chests, and hands is painted using the techniques of painting. The dark green on one corner of the floor was evenly painted, as if a heavy coat of paint had been applied. In this way, it is not so much an oil painting as it is a handicraft. No wonder some people call it "craft oil painting". Similar practices are unprecedented in the history of oil painting. According to the characteristics of the use of gold, people regard the Klimt period, that is, the creations in the second half of the first decade of the last century, as the "Golden Period". You know, traditional oil paints do not have ready-made gold, and they hardly use pure gold powder, let alone gold foil. Gold must be compared with different paint mixes. For example, Rembrandt's "The Man with the Golden Crown" (1650) did not use a little gold powder or gold leaf, and still painted the helmet with a gleam of gold, which is more than real gold, which is the charm of art. If you simply use gold powder and gold foil, it is difficult to achieve the real and rich layered effect of the image. The Klimt use of gold may have been influenced by oriental art, especially from Chinese art, and its purpose was to make the picture more splendid, rich, radiant, and even sacred. Because painting has served religion, emperors, dignitaries and the wealthy from the very beginning. They like to show their authority and abundance. Only they can invite first-class painters to serve themselves and satisfy their desires. The creation of this painting is not from the personal relationship between the painter and his wife, but as a gift to his young wife by Ferdinand, in order to preserve an artistic image of her.
There are only two requirements for a portrait of a noble lady. The first is to be like. Judging from the photographs by Bloch-Bauer in 1910, this was undoubtedly successful, although the portraits were a little thinner. Understandably, there is a 3-year time difference in between. The ability to draw gourds is still a skill for ordinary professional painters, and for a master like Klimt, it is a handy little thing.
The second is to be beautiful. Beauty is something of class and age. Different classes and different eras have different understandings of beauty. A young lady, of course, likes to paint herself as delicate and graceful, beautiful, jewels, jade, and gold. Therefore, before the ladies enter the studio and sit on the model stage, they often have to design carefully in advance, study their own characteristics, what clothes to wear, what poses, what hairstyles to wear, what jewelry to wear, etc.
In this painting, on the portrait figures, what we see is a treasure chest that has been knocked over, full of dazzling array. Around the lady's neck is a pearl necklace that her husband gave her when she got married, which is priceless. The bracelet is slightly bulky, probably to show off his wealth. The golden glittering long dress is spread out to the maximum extent, which not only makes the portrait appear very stable, but also reminds the opening of a peacock, which is a compliment to the lady. The most puzzling is the "eyes", circles, bars and "■"-shaped decorative patterns that appear on the clothes. Some people say that the circle represents the gentleness of women, the "■" shape implies female genitalia, and the eight long strips imply the masculinity of men. We see this symbol again in the "Kiss" completed by the painter in 1907-1908. The woman's slender face resembled the lady in the painting. An upright bed appeared unexpectedly behind Mrs. The futon on the bed has a swirl pattern. On the right is a treasure-shaped pillow. It is reminiscent of the painter's affair with his wife. The eyes may represent the testimony of God. In any case, there is one thing that can be fully affirmed that the painter can organize so many messy things together, and it is very harmonious, not cumbersome, nor lacking in perspective and distance, but greatly highlights the faces of the characters and makes the skin more White and soft, the characters are more noble and reserved, and it is completely a rich man's world. To have such a superb effect cannot but be related to the painter's superb skills and the edification and education of arts and crafts since he was a child.
In 1862, Klimt was born into a family of gold and silver craftsmen in Vienna. The charm of plastic arts has long been rooted in the hearts of painters. Later, he entered the Arts and Crafts School under the Austrian Arts and Crafts Museum, and studied frescoes under the tutelage of Professor Ferdinand Laufberg. After 7 years of hard study in the cold window, he learned from the strengths of hundreds of schools and developed a strong ability. After that, he mainly engaged in mural decoration work. In 1899, he made his debut with the painting "Schubert Is Playing". Later, he was dissatisfied with the conservative school and set up his own business and formed a separatist faction. He became famous in attacks and abuses. Naturally, Mrs. Bloch-Bauer is indispensable here. shelter and support. His paintings are almost filled with various patterns and patterns. This is also a major feature of his art.
Another distinctive feature of Klimt art is that it is good at learning from the East. Studying the Orient has become more popular among European painters in the second half of the 19th century. Such as Manet, Van Gogh famous art masters are so. Klimt also made no secret that he had taken nourishment from Chinese painting. For example, on the wall of his studio, there is a huge portrait of Guan Gong. Guan Gong wore a helmet and sat proudly, followed by his eldest son Guan Ping and black-faced Zhou Cang. This form is very common in China. Klimt not only hung it in his studio, but also used the painted figures in his own work. Take his "Portrait of Elizabeth" completed in 1914 as an example. The figure in the background (some say it's a tapestry) standing with his fists folded has five green beards and a big cloak. I would suspect that it was Guan Yunchang who greeted the main characters in the painting. Above the painting are many brave knights. All full of energy and ready to go. A maid with a candle in her hand was turning her head, as if to lead the way for Elizabeth. All of this, it should be said that it can only be seen in Chinese art.
Klimt did not put his own stamp on his works like the Chinese painters. But he has at least one Chinese stamp. The seal is an irrefutable proof. From the engraving we can clearly identify the words "G·Klimt" (Ancient Klimt). The design is ingenious, and we Chinese also look quite fresh.
Mrs. Bloch-Bauer was a very cultured and knowledgeable Jewish woman. She left a will shortly before her death (1925), asking her husband Ferdinand to donate two portraits of her by Klimt to the Belvedere Gallery in Vienna behind her. But after the event, her husband who loves art not only failed to do so, but also changed his wife's bedroom into a showroom, intending to display these two portraits together with other collections for a long time. Hitler came to power a few years later, and his ambitions continued to expand. In 1938, he adopted military pressure and annexed Austria by means of "German-Austria merger" through the so-called "vote". As a wealthy Jewish businessman, Ferdinand knew he was in danger and fled to Switzerland in a hurry. Naturally, the two portraits could not be taken away and fell into the hands of the Nazis. In April 1945, when the Soviet army captured Vienna, the painting was seized and returned to the Austrian government unconditionally, becoming a precious collection of the Belvedere Gallery. But this is not a bequest of Mrs. According to international law, all works of art that were taken away by the Nazis during World War II should be returned to their original owners after the war. Sadly, Ferdinand passed away in 1954. The only survivor in his family was his niece, Maria Arman, who now lives in the United States. She deserves to be the undisputed successor to portraiture. However, good things took a long time, and what followed was a long-term, marathon lawsuit with the observation tower gallery, and it was not until January 2006 that it finally came to a successful conclusion - it was completely returned to Zhao.
Today, "Portrait of Adna Bloch-Mrs. Bauer" has become a symbol of Austrian wisdom and a well-known painting by women and children. According to Bernhard Prehn, director of the Jewish Museum in Munich: "The Portrait of Adna Bloch-Mrs. Bauer is an icon of Austrian culture and art. In Vienna, in the boxes of chocolate and other goods ( There are pictures of this painting everywhere.” This is a very considerable income. And in June last year, the reason why cosmetics giant Rodner S. Lauder bought the painting at an astonishingly high price at the auction was not sure whether it had anything to do with his business activities.
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