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Saturday, July 14, 2012

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Google Doodles Klimt on July 14 - Redentore 2012

The Kiss by Gustav Klimt GOOGLED

(Venice, Italy)

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Gustav
Happy Birthday to you

How old are you now?
How old are you now?
How old are you Gustav?
How old are you now?

I'm 150 years old
I'm 150 years old
I've been bought but not sold
I'm 150 years old.

The Kiss by Gustav Klimt
New Delhi: A painting of a couple kissing is the theme of the doodle on the Google home page on Saturday. The Google doodle commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of the Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimt is a reproduction of his most famous work - 'The Kiss'. Some of Gustav Klimt's paintings rank amongst the most expensive in the world.  

Click HERE to read IBN LIVE. 

 

Gustav Klimt
Giuditta I, 1901
Olio e foglia d’oro on canvas
84x42 cm.
Belvedere, Vienna
Just last week, the spectacular Klimt exhibit at the Museo Correr closed here in Venice. Here's the Venetian Cat - Venice Blog report: 

GUSTAV KLIMT in the Sign of Hoffmann and the Secession

 Excerpts:

From Wikipedia:
Klimt came under attack for 'pornography' and 'perverted excess' in the paintings. None of the paintings would go on display in the university. In May 1945 all three paintings were destroyed by retreating SS forces.
 
..This would also be the last time Klimt would accept commissions from the state, remarking: "I've had enough of censorship...I reject all state support, I don't want any of it."
...The paintings were requested for the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904 in St. Louis, Missouri, but the ministry declined, nervous of what the reaction might be. Klimt then resigned his commission, wishing to keep his work, but the ministry insisted they were already property of the state. Only when Klimt threatened the removal staff with a shotgun was he able to keep his paintings. 

We can imagine the scene: Klimt, the frenzied creator of the paintings, armed with a shotgun, challenging some bewildered officers from the state who had arrived to take his creations away. ...

... Gustav Klimt believed, "The arts lead us into an ideal realm, the only place where we can find pure joy, pure happiness, pure love." 
 
...The Kiss, Klimt's most renowned work, is not here in Venice, because, according to Agnes Husslein-Arco, the Director of the Belvedere, "The Kiss does not travel." 

Gustav Klimt
Particolare dal fregio di Beethoven, 1901-1902

Materiali vari

Later in the evening, we celebrated Redentore -- the Feast of the Redeemer -- with fireworks galore. 

Venice, Italy - Redentore - July 14, 2012
Click to read the Venetian Cat - Venice Blog account of previous Redentore festivals for a little history of one of Venice's most ancient holidays. 

Redentore 2011 - Feast of the Redeemer

Ciao from Venezia,
Cat

1 comment:

  1. The Kiss, Klimt's most renowned work, is not here in Venice, because, according to Agnes Husslein-Arco, the Director of the Belvedere, "The Kiss does not travel."

    ReplyDelete