The Woman in Gold

woman_in-gold_by_klimt_darya_mead

http://www.triporati.com/blog/2015/04/30/woman-in-gold%E2%80%94the-travels-and-travails-of-one-famous-painting/

The magnificent painting, The Woman in Gold by Gustav Klimt, is now on display as a part of the Ronald Lauder collection at the Neue Gallery. Before visiting the museum, I highly recommend watching the movie, The Woman in Gold, starring Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds, which shares the journey of Adele Bloch-Bauer’s niece to reclaim her family’s painting from the Austrian government after it was illegally seized from their home by the Nazis. It took more than three years for Klimt to finish this masterpiece. The Woman in Gold is a spectacular painting that depicts Adele Bloch-Bauer, a high-society Austrian woman, in a gorgeous, shimmering, gold gown. Within her dress, there are multiple symbols including the Egyptian triangle and eye, the letter B, and other shapes. This triangle and eye that Klimt painted are similar to the Eye of Providence, which is on the back of the one-dollar bill. The eye could represent intuition and the eye of God who always is overlooking each individual. The B stands for Bloch-Bauer, which would forever remain as a statement of her family’s legacy. Additionally, the background contains many shapes including squares and circles, which bring the painting to life. The most awe-inspiring aspect of this painting is the gold. Gold is used throughout this painting in a mosaic style to create a powerful depiction of Ms. Bloch-Bauer. Her fair complexion sits in stark contrast with the gold dress and gold background. The contrast between her pale face and the shimmering gold makes her come alive on the canvas. Her unblemished, fair complexion makes plain her wealth and position in high society. A diamond choker that fits snugly on her neck further emphasizes her significant wealth. The choker is breathtaking in its size and frames her elongated neck and creates a divide between her face and upper chest. After viewing the painting, you may consider visiting a lovely café in the corner of the museum serving wonderful Austrian pastries, tarts and hot chocolate.