1901 painting by Gustav Klimt
Beethoven Frieze
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Artist
| Gustav Klimt
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Year
| 1901?1902
[1]
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Medium
| Charcoal
,
graphite
, black, red and coloured chalk, pastel, casein colours, gold, silver, gilt stucco, applications (
mother-of-pearl
buttons,
brass
uniform buttons, mirror fragments, ground glass, brass curtain rings, upholstering nails,
semi-precious stones
) on mortar render over reed matting
[1]
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Location
| Secession Building
,
Vienna
, Austria
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The
Beethoven Frieze
(German:
Beethovenfries
) is a painting by
Gustav Klimt
on display in the
Secession Building
, Vienna, Austria.
[2]
Description
[
edit
]
In 1902, Klimt painted the
Beethoven Frieze
for the Fourteenth
Vienna Secession
exhibition in celebration of 75th anniversary of the composer
Ludwig van Beethoven's
death. It was featured alongside a monumental polychrome sculpture by
Max Klinger
. Meant for the exhibition only, the
frieze
was painted directly on the walls with light materials.
[3]
The frieze is large, standing at 2.15 m (7 ft 1 in) high with a width of 34.14 m (112.0 ft).
[4]
The entire work weighs four tons.
[5]
It is based on the composer
Richard Wagner
's interpretation of
Beethoven's
Ninth symphony
.
[2]
The frieze combined
Ancient Greek
,
Byzantine
,
early medieval
, and
Japanese
art styles, while incorporating Klimt's characteristic use of
gold leaf
. Its left side begins with
genii
floating toward a
knight
, driving him to protect mankind's happiness. The middle panel displays personified threats to society, such as
lust
,
typhus
, and
syphilis
. Its right wall culminates with the genii leading humanity to happiness through poetry,
choir singing
, and a loving embrace.
[6]
-
Left wall
: "the yearning for happiness; the sufferings of weak mankind; ..."
-
"... their petition to the well-armed strong one, to take up the struggle for happiness, impelled by motives of compassion and ambition.
-
Middle wall
: the hostile forces;
Typhon
the giant, against whom even gods fought in vain; his daughters, the three
Gorgons
, who symbolize lust and lechery, intemperance and gnawing care. The longings and wishes of mankind fly over their heads."
-
Right wall
: "the yearning for happiness is assuaged in poetry. The arts lead us to the ideal realm in which we all can find pure joy, pure happiness, pure love. ..."
-
"... Choir of angels from Paradise. 'Joy, lovely spark of heaven's fire, this embrace for all the world."
[7]
History
[
edit
]
In 1903, art collector Carl Reininghaus acquired the Klimt's
Beethoven Frieze
to prevent its destruction after the 14th Vienna Secession. In appreciation for preserving his work, Klimt provided Reininghaus with over 100 preparatory sketches, one of which was sold to the
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
in 1964. Industrialist
August Lederer
was pressured by his wife,
Serena
, to acquire the frieze and many of these sketches in 1915.
[8]
During the 1938
German annexation of Austria
, the widowed Serena Lederer was forced to abandon her art collection as she fled to
Switzerland
to avoid
Nazi
persecution for her Jewish faith. After the painting was recovered by
Allied forces
from the
Altaussee salt mine
in Austria in 1945, it was returned to Serena's son, Erich Lederer.
[8]
In 1973, Erich was forced to sell the frieze for $750,000 (half of its
market value
) to the Austrian government in exchange for
Chancellor
Bruno Kreisky
granting export licenses for the Lederer family's other Klimt pieces.
[5]
Over ten years, Manfred Koller of the Austrian
Federal Monuments Office
restored the piece. After the
Secession Building
built a climate-controlled basement room in 1985, the
Osterreichische Galerie Belvedere
permanently loaned the piece, publicly displaying the piece since 1986. In 2020, museum visitors were provided with headphones to hear Beethoven's Ninth Symphony while viewing the frieze in celebration of the composer's 250th birthday.
[2]
In 2013, members of the Lederer family filed a claim for the
Beethoven Frieze
to be returned. However, the Austrian Art Restitution Advisory Board rejected this request in 2015, finding that Erich Lederer had voluntarily negotiated the sale price and that the Austrian government had significantly invested in its restoration at the
Secession Building
.
[9]
Commemorative coin
[
edit
]
Because of the frieze's fame and popularity, it was made the main motif of a collectors' coin: the Austrian 100 euro
Secession Coin
, minted on 10 November 2004. The reverse side features a small portion of the frieze. The extract from the painting features three figures: a knight in armor representing "Armored Strength", one woman in the background symbolizing "Ambition" holding up a wreath of victory and a second woman representing "Sympathy" with lowered head and clasped hands.
[3]
See also
[
edit
]
Notes
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
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