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New Exhibition at Tate LiverpoolPainting, Design and Modern Life in Vienna 1900
Gustav Klimt and Josef Hoffman, keen exponents of Art Nouveau and founders of the Vienna Secession, feature in a major exhibition at Tate Liverpool.
The Tate Liverpool might be only twenty years old but when it comes to exciting exhibitions in unusual settings Tate shows experience well beyond its years. Located in Liverpool's redeveloped Albert Dock the setting is as unusual as London's Tate Modern, which is located in a redeveloped power station. The gallery focuses on two types of exhibitions. Firstly, they mount shows featuring items from their own collection such as the DLA Piper Series: The Twentieth Century: How it looked & how it felt open until April 2009. Tate Liverpool's second speciality is exhibitions featuring art loaned by public and private collections around the world. These displays reflect the vast number of items that fall into the field of modern and contemporary art such as prints and printmaking, photography, painting and sculpture as well as performance and installation. Design and Modern Life in Vienna 1900 is the Tate's stunning summer show and the first major exhibition of Gustav Klimt's (1862-1918) work to be shown in the UK. The show examines the life and work of Gustav Klimt and his importance in art history as one of the founding fathers of the Vienna Secession. Sketches, graphics and major paintings are set side by side with furniture, fashion, jewellery and ceramics drawn together from around the world to show the life style of Klimt and his patrons. Unfortunately, much of Klimt's work was destroyed in a fire and much of what survived is too frail to travel. In addition, the Neue Galerie in New York is also running a Klimt exhibition, so the available Klimt's must be shared around. Because there are not a great number of pieces that can be shown Tate Liverpool has presented Klimt's work in a much wider context alongside that of his close friend, architect and designer, Josef Hoffman. Hoffman, co-founder of the Wiener Werkstätte, (Viennese Workshop, founded 1903), created flamboyant settings for some of Klimt’s most important clients and important drawings and paintings are displayed in settings very similar to their original presentation. For example, Klimt's Portrait of Hermine Gallia (1903-4), is displayed together with furniture and silver objects designed by Hoffman. Painting, Design and Modern Life in Vienna 1900 also explores the influence of the British Arts and Crafts movement and British artists, such as Charles Rennie Mackintosh and William Morris, on the Secessionist artists. The Beethoven FriezeThe highlight of the exhibition is the recreation of Klimt's 34 metre long Beethoven Frieze produced for an exhibition in 1902. Inspired by Beethoven's 9th symphony, Klimt envisaged a total experience encompassing painting, sculpture, architecture and music. The massive three-part frieze forms a narrative painting to be accompanied by the 4th Movement of the symphony, Schiller's poem The Ode to Joy, set to music. It's amazing that the Frieze has survived all this time because Klimt had intended to destroy it after the exhibition but it was bought by Carl Reinighaus, a collector, who removed it from the wall in eight pieces! The Austrian Republic acquired it in 1973 and it is now permanently installed in its own room in the Vienna Secession building where it was first shown. Further information about this exhibition can be obtained from Tate Liverpool's website. Source:
The copyright of the article New Exhibition at Tate Liverpool in Special Art Gallery Exhibits is owned by Frances Spiegel. Permission to republish New Exhibition at Tate Liverpool in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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