Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II 1912

Gustav Klimt painted this portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II, using oil on canvas. It’s a wild mix of representation and decoration, where the figure emerges from a tapestry of colors and patterns. The way Klimt layers paint, thin in some spots and thick in others, it's like he's building the image from the ground up. The surface is alive, with these little gestures and brushstrokes that seem to dance across the canvas. I love how the pink rectangle at the left contrasts with the floral green section behind Adele, and both work together to set off the chaotic composition of the red background. Zooming in, notice the way Klimt uses these short, broken brushstrokes to build up the image, almost like he's knitting the painting together. It reminds me a bit of Matisse, with that same love for color and pattern. Yet, whereas Matisse uses those elements to flatten the image, Klimt uses them to draw the eye into a world of almost hallucinatory depth. The fixed stare of the sitter holds us as if she's daring us to interpret the layers of colour and form surrounding her. This work is less about a person and more about a feeling, a state of mind.