Shop art print and framed art The Beethoven Frieze: The longing for happiness by Gustav Klimt

The Beethoven frieze is a work by Gustav Klimt dating from 1902 and housed in the Secession Palace in Vienna. In 1901, for its 14th exhibition, dedicated to the music of Beethoven, the Vienna Secession sought to show the interaction between architecture, painting, sculpture and music, with the aim of creating a total work of art. Architect Josef Hoffmann is in charge of the project, creating a monument to Beethoven in which the other works will be displayed. The Beethoven frieze was presented to the public for the first time at this exhibition in 1902. Klimt designed a décor consisting of a seven-panel mural fresco, 34.14 metres long and 2.15 metres high, depicting the Ninth Symphony. For its creator, this was a total work of art, combining music, painting and architecture, with the frieze occupying the top of three walls in a vast space within the Secession building. The work was approved by Auguste Rodin, who met Klimt in 1902, and by Gustav Mahler himself: for him, it represented the yearning for happiness of suffering humanity, which sought its appeasement in the arts. But it was fiercely criticised in the name of morality, and one collector exclaimed on seeing it: "Hideous! The frieze was acquired in 1907 by Carl Reininghaus and then in 1915 by the family of the Jewish industrialist August Lederer. After it was looted by the Nazis, the Austrian state returned it to the Lederers, subject to an export ban. After lengthy negotiations, it was finally purchased in 1972 for [...]

 

This artwork is a painting from the modern period. It belongs to the art nouveau styles and symbolism styles.

 

« The Beethoven Frieze: The longing for happiness » is kept at Osterreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna, Austria.

 

Find the full description of The Beethoven Frieze: The longing for happiness by Gustav Klimt on Wikipedia.