THE FALL OF THE EMPIRE
As the First World War broke, it marked the beginning of the end for the Austro-Hungarian Empire, a fragile mosaic of cultures and ethnic groups already fraught with tension. The Empire’s defeat in 1918 and the Treaty of Saint-Germain sealed its dissolution, so Vienna went from being an imperial capital to a city in crisis. For Klimt too, those years were full of change and anguish. The once vibrant creative atmosphere got darker, and the looming uncertainty impacted his last works. Paintings such as Adam and Eve showcase melancholic introspection, where the tension of time is woven into a search for eternity. The war marked the end of an era and the prelude to the fall of a world that Klimt had captured in its splendour and fragility.
IMAGE CAPTION N° 1
A group of women waits in line for bread in Vienna (1918)
IMAGE CAPTION N° 2
Map of Austria after First World War
IMAGE CAPTION N° 3
Adam and Eve, Gustav Klimt (detail, 1917-unfinished) Klimt’s last work remained unfinished
Art is an endless battle against death.
Gustav Klimt