Tuesday, July 03, 2007

The Sensuality of Gustav Klimt

Gustav Klimt was one of the most sensual and erotic artists of his time. He was born 14 July 1862 in Baumgarten near Vienna, Austria.

Some of his paintings are very well known, easily recognisable and often reproduced -for example "The Kiss".

Klimt went through a phase of using gold leaf in his paintings, which does make them outstandingly memorable, and adds to their splendour and sensuality. I'd say he was "ahead of his time" generally, which usually means Aquarius or Uranus strong in the natal chart.

It's tempting to compare Klimt's chart with Edward Hopper's - I wrote about Hopper HERE. The charts of these two artists have some similarities, though their work isn't similar in style or content. They show two quite different sides of the signs of Cancer, Taurus, and Virgo. Whereas Hopper painted loneliness and homes, Klimt's focus was mainly on femaleness, and the sensuality of it - the brighter side of Cancer and Taurus; he did paint some good landscapes too. We have to remember also that Klimt was born in Europe and lived his life there, Hopper in the USA, very different backgrounds.

Some of Klimt's works are unsuitable for "a family blog" so I've chosen some milder ones to feature!



I fully expected to see some Scorpio exerting strong influence in Klimt's chart, but no planet lies there. If he were born between approximately 1.20pm and 4pm he'd have had Scorpio rising - very likely! His Moon is at 1* Pisces at Noon, if his birth time were around 8am his Moon would lie in Aquarius, but then Virgo would be rising - not too likely. An early (5.30am-ish)birth time would give Leo ascendant and Moon Aquarius - a little more likely?



Saturn square Uranus in his natal chart, the status quo challenging the avant garde, Uranus and Venus are within 4* of each other, and I'd say that the avant garde won - his paintings proclaim it. Sun and Jupiter are in sextile - Cancer/Virgo - two signs which strike me as very feminine in flavour, Jupiter egging the artist on to be more flamboyant, more luxurious, with his gold leaf, and to paint large works such as the Stoclet Frieze.



Saturn and Virgo are conjunct though, within 4*, so really what we have is Saturn and Virgo challenging Uranus and Venus - I could see that as signifying the new challenging the old fashioned, and the erotic challenging the pure and virginal. That more or less sums up the feel of Klimt - in his own time. He's still pretty tame by today's standards, however. His natal Cancer Sun along with that Uranus/Venus conjunction, shines out from his paintings of women, I think. Perhaps, in expecting to find Scorpio here, I was mistaken. Klimt didn't present women as "sex objects to lust after" he presented them with, I believe, sincere respect, and love.







I particularly liked some of his simple sketches - sketches appeal to me more than anything. I had a framed print of this in England, but had to leave it behind due to lack of space - it was big! I wish now that I'd posted it on to myself!


Paintings top to bottom: "The Kiss". "The Virgin(or Maiden)". "The Stoclet Frieze/Tree of Life". "Hope". "Danae". "The Three Ages of Woman". "Couples" sketch. More information HERE.

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