Around the turn of the twentieth century, in the repressed
Viennese Victorian society, artists who expressed sexual or
sensual themes were relegated to the position of degenerated
perverts in many artistic circles. The public disregarded
art which strayed from the traditional subjects, and the critics
would not approbate artists who elicited negative public responses.
This social climate was inhospitable to the progressive artists
who were struggling to uphold the avant-garde movement which
was succeeding better in other parts of Europe.
After the German liberal party was destroyed in 1879, an uprising
of other social groups caused many class and cultural conflicts.
In the artistic realm, the Vienna Secession, a group of artists,
reacted against the prominent conservative group, The Kunstlerhaus
(or the House of Artists), by supporting avant-garde artists
and aiming towards a democratic system. On April 15, 1902,
the Secession's collective effort was culminated in a Vienna
exhibition centered around a statue of Beethoven done by Max
Klinger, a renowned sculptor at the time. Many members of
the group contributed pieces which were to be synthetic parts
of the theme of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony in this memorial
dedicated to the great master.
The main figure of the Secession artists, Gustav Klimt, also
contributed a work germane to the theme. His addition, the
Beethoven frieze, is considered by many to be his definitive
masterpiece and the height of his artistic genius. The frieze,
which was more than 30 meters long, was intended to be destroyed
with the other pieces at the end of the exhibition, but was
saved from destruction by a collector. The existence of Klimt's
frieze is fortunate, as it appropriately documents the struggle
that the Secession artists had against the bulk of society,
and as it attests to Klimt's own beliefs in the salvation
of man through the artistic pursuit.
The Beethoven exhibit's design reflected the idea that the
artist was like a god, as it was contained in a building that
was similar to a temple, with various catacombs of the artists'
works, leading in to the main central statue. It was the artist
who created beauty, as a god, and who "assisted an understanding
of man's earthly predicament by providing him with a glimpse
of Paradise." (Whitford, p. 87) Beethoven was thus represented
as the immortal savior who symbolized the sublime aspirations
towards the divine. Many of the artists' contributions clearly
reflected this idea, yet Klimt's frieze with its sexual and
gruesome images of women and monsters was thought to be unrelated
to the theme. Along with the unconventional images Klimt employed,
his frieze was unique in the variety of materials that he
used. Instead of the traditional fresco, he implemented a
conglomeration of casein on stucco , tempera, charcoal, graphite,
pastel, gold, silver, semi-precious stones, mother-of-pearl,
glass buttons, and fragments of costume jewelry. Despite the
fact that many criticized such ornate decoration and the ugly
figures as unrelated to the intended scope of the exhibit,
a noticeable correspondence between the frieze and Beethoven's
Ninth has been recognized by Frank Whitford:
...formal qualities do suggest a musical analogy: the relationship between each part of the frieze and the next roughly follows the arrangement of movements within a symphony. The development of form and color begins quietly and gives way to dissonance which it then resolves before building up to a harmonious climax. (Whitford, p. 92)
The thematic content of this development in the frieze can
be best explored by focusing on the progression through each
segment of the work.
With the exhibition, a catalogue was provided which elucidated
the intended meaning of each panel with a descriptive title.
The first panel, entitled "The longing for happiness", starts
out with the floating forms of women with closed eyes, inspired
by the work of Toorop. These make a beautiful transition between
the main panels, and fit in with the corresponding softer
parts of the symphony. The women lead to the second part of
the wall which is entitled "The sufferings of feeble mankind:
its appeal to the well-armed strong one as an external, and
to compassion and ambition as internal driving forces motivating
mankind to fight for happiness." Here are the forms of three
figures, two which are
kneeling with outstretched clasped hands in supplication
towards the hero(the external),
who is wearing gold armor. The "internal" figures of Ambition
and Compassion stand above, and the outlines of their figures
surround the hero in a womb-like whole. The "strong one" looks
determined, and is turned away from the naked, weak figures
of the world. This recalls the mission of the artist, to which
Klimt undoubtedly related, to persist in the struggle for
one's inner beliefs without turning back.
The second and central narrow panel is entitled "The
hostile powers. The giant Typhoeus,
against whom even the gods fought in vain: his daughters,
the three gorgons, Disease,
Madness, Death. Lewdness
and Lust, Excess, Nagging
Grief. The longings and desires of mankind fly above and
beyond them."It is ironic that the disturbing images of this
panel were the main subject of the critics disapproval. Symbolically,
the battle against them is "amplified by a much more explicit
attack on the maleficences of the contemporary world of which
the Secession and Klimt in particular were victims." (Bouillon,
p. 56) Through his painting, Klimt is attacking those forces
which inhibit the creative freedom through their negative
criticisms. In mythology, the gorgon hindrances would turn
anyone who looked upon their faces to stone, and thus are
especially appropriate representatives of this type of paralyzing
force.
As in the majority of Klimt's other works with femme fatale
subjects, the females in this panel are the ones who represent
the evil, irrational and instinctive implements of destruction.
The gorgons all have snakes writhing through their hair, recalling
the temptress Eve who swayed Adam to sin. Lewdness and Lust
are both figures with overtones of a frightening sexuality.
In being put alongside them, Excess denotes sexual excess,
especially with her huge, pregnant-looking belly. Nagging
Grief, the syphilitic, decrepit figure is shrouded and separate
from the others, and represents aging, regret, and worries
in her hunched form.
The layers of the women apparent behind Death, make the foes
suggestively numerous. Even though these aggressive females
are difficult obstacles which the artist must encounter in
his pursuit, they appear feasible to overcome. On the other
hand, the monstrous, monkey-like Typhoeus looks menacing and
almost insurmountable, with his giant wings, and snake
tail. In his catalogue notes, Klimt emphasizes that this
figure, the largest, "was the only monster who momentarily
triumphed over the Gods." (Bouillon, p. 56) Zeus (and Beethoven
as a god) conquered this mighty foe who Hesiod described in
the Theogony(820-880): "From the shoulders of this frightening
dragon a hundred snake heads grew...In all the terrible heads
voices emitted all kinds of amazing sounds...From Typhoeus
arise the winds that blow the mighty rains...those who encounter
them on the sea have no defense against their evil." (Morford
and Lenardon, p. 55-56) With this mythological description
of the beast, Klimt's depiction of the open mouth and looming
dark wings gain the effect of a powerful wind or cacophony
of sounds which distract the plight of the hero.
Interestingly, the next panel begins with a
woman holding a lyre, taking us away from the scream of
Typhoeus, after we are soothed by the floating figures above
the vacant whiteness. The title of this part is "Longing for
happiness finds repose in poetry." This figure of the woman
thus evokes the comfort of both music and poetry which take
the artist away from the discordant sounds of the opposition.
The image of the woman with the lyre is prevalent as a motif
in Klimt's previous works. His painting, Music
1 of 1895, and Music of 1901, depict almost the identical
figure as Poetry in the frieze.
Perhaps through the vehicle of the similarity, Klimt is suggesting
a link between poetry and music. Beethoven did, in fact, intend
for his Ninth Symphony to incorporate a choral singing the
words to Schiller's poem, "Ode to Joy," which could be a reflection
on Klimt's decision to use his music motif with the name of
Poetry.
After Poetry, there is a blank space of wall, indicating the
silence before the final part of Beethoven's Ninth, and then
the final section entitled "The
arts lead us into the kingdom of the ideal where alone
we can find pure joy, pure happiness, pure love. Choir of
heavenly angels. 'Freude, shoner Gotterfunke. Diesen Kuss
der ganzen Welt.'" Whitford notes that the "last two phrases
are, of course, quoted from Schiller's Ode to Joy which the
choir sings in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony." (Whitford, p.
89) The phrase translates: "Joy, beautiful divine spark. This
Kiss for the whole World." (Bouillon, p. 26) The figures of
the chorus do embody the divine joy in their celebratory song
before the embracing
couple. They recall the angelic and other-worldly in their
suspension, and appear to be jumping or floating, detached
from the world of the material in levitation.
Later, the Secession attached to the title of this panel the
biblical phrase: "My Kingdom is not of this World." This addition
is thematically important in tying together the entire progression
of the frieze. The hero has finally reached the encompassing
embrace, and in it, he undergoes a rebirth, or a metamorphosis.
In turning away from the world, and towards the woman, he
is returning to a uroboric state after his struggles and trials.
He becomes one with the woman as the strings that bound them
are no longer needed and slip down around their ankles. From
the beginning of the hero's quest, as a valiant knight, he
goes in with a hard golden armor, shielded against the harsh
enemies, and finally ends up naked, vulnerable, and overtaken,
yet freed in the succumbing liberation of letting all else
go, and turning away from the external to the divine.
He is very much like Narcissus in this way, except the self-love
is actually a love for the divine spirit and for life. As
the artist gazes into the reflection of himself and those
things he yearns for, he turns away from the exterior world
and reaches forth to the flickering beauty. When he falls
into the water, he undermines the unequivocal death through
his transformation of being reborn into a flower. How appropriate
that the figure of Death on the opposite wall is directly
across from the hero's kiss. It is present, looming as an
existing evil amongst the others, yet the great artist heeds
not to the fear which it succeeds in invoking in the rest
of the feeble humanity.
Klimt's Beethoven frieze is not only indicative of Beethoven's
immortal fulfillment in his artistic salvation, but also applies
to Klimt's and the Secession's struggles and need for redemption
before their enemies. It shows the progression of the hero,
savior, and artist as they fight against the hostile powers
which confine them. Despite the naked lewd calls of the physical,
superficial, transitory and mundane to turn to the petty matters,
the hero remains steady in the aspiration for the divine,
eternal, and immortal. The spirit of these heights to which
the Great strive rings out triumphantly in Beethoven's Ninth
and shines boldly forth in the gilding of Klimt's dedication
to the Eternal Beauty.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Bouillon, Jean-Paul. Klimt: Beethoven. New York: Rizzoli, 1987.
Comini, Alessandra. Gustav Klimt. New York: George Braziller, 1975.
Morford, Mark and Robert J. Lenardon. Classical Mythology. New York: Longman, 1995.
Vergo, Peter. Art in Vienna 1898-1918. New York: Cornell University Press, 1975. Whitford, Frank. Klimt. London: Thames and Hudson, 1990.
