черновик лекции

...Klimt's works are often made in such vertical manner. In this sense, the painting is rather illustrative. And the frame, the frame is also a part of the artwork.
So in the 1890s, take a note, the '90s are the time when he becomes known all over the world, I mean, Austria, he is famous in Austria, he received the golden order, he's got prestige, money, and he is officially considered the most prominent artist. This is the moment when the leading lady enters his life. Here we need to say a couple of words about Klimt's private life. Klimt never had any children, nor any wives, until he passed away. But as soon as he dies, there are 14 offsprings right away, willing to share his inheritance. Also 5 wives come up to take part... But during his life Klimt was a thinly veiled erotomaniac, an unconcealed amorist, he was always around women, he has a constant kaleidoscope of girls around. Many women came to him, the others he wooed... He was said to be extremely vibrant, that's why it was not difficult for him, so to say... And he always had all these women around, a lot of women... But none of them stayed with him through all of his life, except for the only lady, who accompanied him since their first encounter in 1991 till the end of his days. (Emilie Fl;ge, 1906) Her name was Emilie Fl;ge. She was the most important woman in Klimt's life, which stayed with him for the rest of his life, apart from his mother and sisters. It's high  time to give a little of her back-story. One of the richest and most powerful men in Vienna of the '90s was Hermann Fl;ge, a manufacturer. He had three daughters, and he decided to give them portraits as a present. In the end of  19th century, if you want to make a present, it's a portrait. And in the late 19th century Vienna if you want to give a portrait as a present, it's Klimt. It was a very logical sequence. I mean, Klimt would not hesitate to take commercial orders, so it was always “deal” for him, especially if it promised a lot of money, and people would pay a lot to him. So Hermann Fl;ge commissioned a portrait from the then-existing “Company of artists” which was Ernst Klimt, his brother, as you remember, Gustav Klimt, and their friend. Hermann Fl;ge commissioned the portraits of his daughters to these artists. And it happens to become something like a double-date, when Ernst Klimt meets Helen Fl;ge, and Emilie Fl;ge meets Gustav Klimt. In a year Ernst and Helen get married and have a child, and Gustav is experiencing his own epic with Emilie. I am speaking so awkward, calling it “epic” relationship, for this is the main mystery of Klimt's private life – it's far from clear what kind of relations he had with this woman, it's absolutely vague. First of all, he kept it secret through all his life, in the next place, she never spoke clearly about what went on between them. But since that moment in the '90s, she was seventeen then, so they had been communicating for a couple of years, and since 1897 they spent each year together, they spent every summer together,  they are always near, she was his muse as well... Now I'll tell you, she was a woman who – in the early 20th century - opened a dressmaker atelier, and it soon became a place of the same prestige in Vienna as Gustav Klimt's. All the girls in Vienna were willing to buy clothes at Fl;ge's. And the dresses were absolutely avant-garde – like this one, it was extremely way-out.  I'm not a fashion historian, but at that moment it was considered an incredible move, a ground-breaking move, such clean-cut robe-style dress. It was really vanguard at that moment, as all the apparels were slim-cut and tight fit and so on, it was just wow! Just like Klimt's paintings. So she and her sisters opened that atelier and dressed all Vienna. What's more, I'm going to show you, you'll see that Gustav Klimt, in fact, dresses in the same way.  I'll show you later, it looks almost the same. Then, all of  Klimt's girlfriends, absolutely all of Gustav Klimt's women dress like this.  What's more, Gustav Klimt personally sketched the gowns for her. And more, he and his friends decorated the interior of the atelier where she kept all this going... She had, first of all, a very strong artistic personality, and also a tight spiritual bond to him. Most likely, but not certain, their relations were romantic, for she was always by him, there must have been something going on between them. Spiritual love, physical affection, was she his friend, his ally, his muse – it's unclear. Nobody ever gives an answer. But there is a fact that's very indicative. This is the portrait he painted when they first met, by the way. (Gustav Klimt “Emilie Fl;ge”, 1891) A very indicative fact is that when Klimt died in 1918 – I start at the end, he died in 1918, that's it. We may finish here. Well, when he died, Emilie wasn't his wife, nothing like this, and she lived until the 1950s, but she never had neither a spouse nor any children. Since he passed away, she never had any other man recognized as her partner. This can give us a hint they were really close. You see, to understand his life better, I will tell you about his studio, it was a kind of a joy house. He never lacked female attention, always had women around, but to her he was always spiritually bound. And he gives us the reason for it in his paintings. I keep saying that Klimt always gives answers through his paintings. He painted another portrait of her. (Gustav Klimt “Emilie Fl;ge”, 1902). They already knew each other well by this time, she had already been an intimate friend of him, and he created a portrait of her. I would ask you to pay attention on her look. She looks self-sufficient and independent. For all the rest of Gustav Klimt's women are trying hard to catch your eye, they seek to charm, to tease, to work your nerves, to trigger your emotions, they are doing something to you. As we are going to see, they always have something for you, towards you... And here she doesn't need you much. She is not too extrovert. She is self-sufficient, like I said, and I'll explain why. Emilie Fl;ge – we must find out what kind of person she is, what kind of nature. She perceived herself as a woman of her time, a modern girl, - you do realize that in the end of 19th century the place of women in society was a little bit different. Especially in the conservative Austro-Hungarian Empire, a woman wouldn't  have the same position in society she has now. But Emilie Fl;ge - as it was said by everyone, she was more outgiving about it than Gustav himself – she always had an attitude of a modern woman, she was what we call strong and independent. She had an identity, a personality, always felt herself equal to men, she owned an atelier which proved to be popular, you know, an atelier has to be managed, the dresses have to be designed, and so on. She was strong and inherently interesting. And you see, Gustav Klimt is an artist who has nude women in his studio each day, all these young models, he's always around them. But her strength and independence, her attitude and kind of pose, her self with a capital S, so to say – it seems to me it's all present in this portrait. And these features are the very reason she stayed with him for the rest of his life. You know, there is a famous story about Gustav Klimt, as there is a story of what every famous person had said before he died. You know, all famous people say something significant before they die, we never know if it is true or not, all these words. A famous story about Einstein goes like he said something, but the woman near him couldn't understand German. And so on. There is a story of this kind about Gustav Klimt, and the word is he called for Emilie Fl;ge, which is quite illustrative of her status. And to make completely clear, how powerful she was, - the most prominent artist of Vienna creates your portrait, gratis, and gives it to you as a present... Emilie Fl;ge returned it. She stated it was not too good, and refused to take the portrait by the main artist of Vienna. Six years later the portrait was bought by the national museum of Vienna. But she didn't accept it, and it reflected her nature quite well. Now, why am I so sure – I'm not sure what kind of relationship they had, but I'm sure they did have a continuous relationship, because they took photos together each summer. (Emilie Fl;ge and Gustav Klimt, 1909). Do you remember that first photograph of a Emilie Fl;ge? It was a photo by Gustav Klimt. Pay attention to their robes, so similar... It is most likely to have been like that, very similar indeed, the same style. And they met every year (Emilie Fl;ge and Gustav Klimt, 1910). And I'd like you to notice how little there is of Gustav Klimt's self, how unpretentious he is in that way, he is all into art. You may laugh, but he really never squandered his talent on trifles. You know, in the early 20th century artists were already actively engaged in advertising and photography, trying to promote themselves, but Klimt was not like that. He was devoted entirely to the subject of his art, and was all the way in it, it is very important in that respect. These are the dresses he designed for her. It is her everywhere, Emilie Fl;ge. Another interesting thing is that each summer he created the most bizarre paintings that are rarely discussed, it seems.