Another artist whose work always draws my eye is that of Gustav Klimt, whose popularity continues through the success of sales of items such as posters, prints, cards and calendars, all bearing his distinctive images. Who hasn’t seen an image of The Kiss on something?
For me , the attraction to Klimt’s work is in the way many of his pieces can be viewed as objects rather than a scene on a picture plane. There is a feeling that you can be both in the painting and outside it. This is a hard quality to describe for me. Maybe it can best be equated to the religious icon paintings of the Russians.
This objectification of his paintings has been a big influence on my work. I have always wanted to create paintings that were as much objects as they were mere scenes on a panel. Of course, this is done in my own way, not nearly so ornate as Klimt’s. His influence may not even be visible in my work, nor should it as it is not a stylistic influence but rather a conceptual one.
This is just another example of how truly diverse work can inspire the artist and why it is so important for young artists to view a wide spectrum of art and artists. There is so much to be gained from keeping an open mind and drawing as much as possible from the minds of others, in art and in life.
Redtree Times 