L’EUROPA DI KLIMT

KLIMT’S EUROPE

From 1850 until the early 1900s, Europe saw waves of revolution and reform. The Austro-Hungarian Empire, led by Franz Joseph I, was a mosaic of cultures and nationalities. After 1867, with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise, the Empire became a dual monarchy, maintaining Vienna as its cultural and political centre. Meanwhile in Italy, in 1861 Giuseppe Garibaldi and Vittorio Emanuele II led the unification of the country, also known as the Risorgimento. Vienna was a hub of artistic and scientific innovation, as well as a nexus of ongoing tension between tradition and modernity. Here, Klimt found the inspiration to transform art into a symbol of a new era.


IMAGE CAPTION N° 1

Map of Europe from 1850


IMAGE CAPTION N° 2

Kingdom of Lombardy–Venetia (1815-1866), Milan and Venice were the administrative and cultural centres


IMAGE CAPTION N° 3

The Meeting in Teano between Garibaldi and Vittorio Emanuele II. Fresco by Pietro Aldi (1886) Palazzo Pubblico, Siena (detail)


The artist must be a mirror of his time.

Gustav Klimt