Description:
Klimt's appreciation reached a high point around 1917 with such paintings as "The Friends." Of course, iconographical borrowing, the mainstay of his earliest commissions, was not new to the artist, nor was he a stranger to Japanese design. Throughout the mosaic period he had explored ambigous figure/ground relationships similar to those seen in Japanese prints, combined with his own style, leading to lusher, more densely impastoed surfaces. The orange robe, pink wallpaper and rosy flesh of "The Friends" are all handled with the same buttery strokes, and so, the background acquires a pictorial presence that makes it as "real" as the main subjects. It is impossible to determine whether the women and their feathered companions occupy the same plane, since background so seemlessly blends with foreground. Thematically, of course, the subject of "The Friends" was a recapitulation of the lesbian imagery that had recurred in Klimt's work ever since 1904's "Water Serpents I." However, the world in which "The Friends" dwell seems a much less forbidding place than that of the "Water Serpents." Despite the surreal, spatial qualities, it is evident that this couple lives with us above ground. Both faces engage the viewer sympathetically. The feeling between them is less erotic passion than tender affection, and given a yin/yang quality of inevitability. This dualism is expressed both by their appearances- one clothed and one nude- and by the birds that flank them. On the left is a fantastic phoenix, symbol of regeneration, while on the right are the inevitable forces of doom, the raven and the evil, red-eyed swan. The subject has become symbolic of the eternal human predicament, a couple whose situation, far from being anomalous, assumes a prototypical magnitude. The original, tragically was destroyed in fire by retreating Nazis in 1945.
You are viewing a hand colored print. The process begins with hand-pulled black & white decorative and antique reproduction prints. Each print is then individually designed and hand colored using the same methods of color application that were used throughout the 19th century, before modern color lithography. Individual artists meticulously paint each piece using the finest European watercolor paints on heavy mat, acid free, archival paper resistant to deterioration and discoloration. By combining old world craftsmanship with fresh design innovations, our artists create works of stunning depth and vibrancy that are absolutely beautiful and unique.
Limited editions are a series of identical prints, which are limited to a one-time printing of a certain number of pieces. The artist determines the size of the edition, and usually signs and numbers each individual piece. Limited edition prints framed by the Fulcrum Gallery are handled separately and given the utmost individual care and attention, using archival framing materials and practices. Because limited editions are in limited supply, and are of exceptionally high quality, the price is generally at a premium to regular open edition prints.
