Everytime I Close My Eyes - Inspired by Gustav Klimt
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Everytime I Close My Eyes 48 x 24'Everytime I Close My Eyes' is a lovely portrait done of my friend Ande and her baby Iris. Iris is just over a year old, and was sleeping when we took the image for this mixed media collage painting.
The style was inspired by Gustav Klimt, one of my all time favorite artists. The image I saw when I looked at Ande and Iris, was of the mother and child - a detail from the 'Three Stages of Woman' by Klimt.
In the painting we see three women at different stages of life. The youngest is the baby, then the mother and then off to the side, an old woman. These three figures have appeared before, slightly altered in form, in some of his earlier and later paintings, such as Medicine which he first exhibited at the 10th exhibition of the Secession Group in Vienna in 1901 and Death and Life which he completed in 1911. Unfortunately, the painting Medicine, was destroyed most likely during World War II.
Gustav Klimt "Three Stages of Woman'
The image I created also used circles, but with a heavenly body theme of stars and nebulas verses the use of flowers and circles.
Klimt’s elaborate, explicitly sensual works expressed themes of regeneration, love and death, and incorporated Egyptian, Classical Greek, Byzantine and Medieval styles.
“If you can’t please everyone with your deeds and art, please just a few.” – Gustav Klimt
Klimt also utilized symbols representing art’s liberation from traditional culture. Laying the groundwork for Art Deco and Modernism, Klimt’s creative influence can still be seen in today’s art, decorations and jewelry.
