Klimt and Pattern
I have always liked Vienna Secession artist Gustav Klimt’s work. His paintings are so rich in detail, ornamented with a riot of pattern and lavished with gilt. I have always loved Byzantine art too for this same reason; Klimt’s two-dimensional pictures recall the mosaic patterns and arabesque colours and designs of Byzantium. Of course Klimt’s subjects are sensual rather than religious, but they are equally glorious.
A Klimt-like pose – click for larger versionFor a long time I had thought about creating my own picture in homage to the Secessionst, but could not decide how; to simply decorate a photograph with Klimtesque swirls and floral motifs seemed obvious and not true to my own style besides. But it is the patterns, and colours (apart from the women obviously) that are so striking about his paintings, and earlier this week I suddenly hit on it. I would use printed and embroidered fabric to emulate Klimt’s ornamentation. I even had the perfect vintage dress. Years ago I had done a story on lingerie, and I recalled a particular pose (right) that had reminded me of Klimt’s painting Danae (below). Then a quick hit on Google for additional visuals of Klimt’s paintings lead me to The Virgin (below).
Danae, 1907–08
The Virgin, Gustav Klimt, 1913
I pulled out of storage an Indian bed sheet I had purchased from an exotic homewares store in Penrith, NSW when I was about 16 (I fell in love with it, and bought it even though it was very expensive for me at the time); another enormous length of spangled and tie-dyed silk (part of a sari perhaps) purchased in vintage store The Jazz Garter in Sydney, also many years ago; and some embroidered gold fabric the origin of which I do not recall. The cotton maxi dress is also vintage, possibly 1970s, purchased from Fat Helen’s in Chapel St a few years ago. Although I love the dress, it is so hot to wear, there are so many metres of fabric in it. The pattern is a perfect rendition of Klimt’s florals however.
The young girl(s) in The Virgin look rather like they are lolling on an enormous bed (the painting depicts the transition of a girl into a woman), and accordingly I cast the fabrics on my bed, set up the camera on its tripod and threw myself on top, arranging the folds of my dress artistically. It’s not so easy to compose this kind of image when one can’t look through the viewfinder, and I probably shot the equivalent of ten rolls of film before I ended up with a few pictures I was happy with. (Some I have included in the Out-takes & Extras gallery, including the full image of the details below.) I call it The Sleeper.
Read about Gustav Klimt here.
Detail (from one of the out-takes), original photo (left) and the picture utilising the typical SNAP filter effects (right). Click for a closer look.
The Photoshop painting filter I used in these images creates an interesting effect. Detail (from one of the out-takes), final image with additional painting texture at 70% opacity (left) and image showing painting filter at 100% (right). Click for a closer look.