(after) Gustav Klimt Figurative Prints

After Gustav Klimt, Max Eisler #1, Die Freundinnen II; multi-color collotype after 1916/17 painting in oil on canvas which was destroyed by fire in May 1945 at Immendorf Castle Lower Austria. Eisler’s choice to begin his 1931 portfolio of works by Klimt with Girlfriends II was both bold and prescient. Just 14 years later, the painting was tragically destroyed in a fire. With such a loss, this rare and exquisite image is all the more valuable by virtue of having been made in color. In works from his late period, Klimt continued his fascination with exploring female dynamics and their various forms of love. Girlfriends II is a fine example of how space, color and ornament play a noticeable role in the evolution of his symbolic language. Wide swaths of space in the background as well as the two female forms create the structure. Klimt’s strong brushstrokes show a painterly quality and a new move toward abstraction which feels very far away from his earlier work. Nor should Klimt’s economy of line be overlooked. His draughtsmanship is what infuses the female bodies with movement, emotion and a profundity of life. Both women confront the viewer’s gaze unselfconsciously, as if they are modern-day Viennese women stepping out of a Klimtesque ukiyo-e print. Characteristic of this late period, Klimt uses ornament...

After Gustav Klimt, Max Eisler #10, Ausschnitt aus dem Bilde “Medizin”; multi-color collotype detail from Medicine, one of the faculty paintings for the Uni...

After Gustav Klimt, Max Eisler #22, Bildnis Baronin Bachofen-Echt; multi-color collotype after 1914-1916 painting in oil on canvas. GUSTAV KLIMT EINE NACHLESE (GUSTAV KLIMT AN AFTERMATH), a portfolio of 30 collotypes prints, 15 are multi-color and 15 are monochrome, on chine colle paper laid down on heavy cream-wove paper with deckled edges; Max Eisler, Editor-Publisher; Osterreichischer Staatsdruckerei (Austrian State Printing Office), Printer; in a limited edition of 500 numbered examples of which: 200 were printed in German, 150 were printed in French and 150 were printed in English; Vienna, 1931. 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of Gustav Klimt’s death. It is a fitting time to reflect upon the enduring legacy and deep impact of his art. Recognizing this need for posterity with uncanny foresight, the publication of Gustav Klimt: An Aftermath (Eine Nachlese) provides a rare collection of work after Klimt which has proven to be an indispensable tool for Klimt scholarship as well as a source for pure visual delight. Approximately 25 percent of the original works featured in the Aftermath portfolio have since been lost. Of those 30, six were destroyed by fire on 8 May 1945. On that fateful final day of WWII, the retreating Feldherrnhalle, a tank division of the German Army, set fire to the Schloss Immendorf which was a 16th century castle in Lower Austria used between 1942-1945 to store objects of art. All three of Klimt’s Faculty Paintings: Philosophy, Medicine and Jurisprudence (1900-1907), originally created for the University of Vienna, were on premises at that time. Also among the inventory of Klimt paintings in storage there was art which had been confiscated by the Nazis. One of the most significant confiscated collections was the Lederer collection which featured many works by Gustav Klimt such as Girlfriends II and Garden Path with Chickens...

After Gustav Klimt, Max Eisler #12, Aus dem Stoclet-Fries: Erwartung; multi-color collotype after the cartoon for the 1910-1911 mosaic frieze on the west wa...

After Gustav Klimt, Max Eisler #20, Adam und Eva; multi-color collotype after unfinished 1917/18 painting in oil on canvas. GUSTAV KLIMT EINE NACHLESE (GUSTAV KLIMT AN AFTERMATH), a...

After Gustav Klimt, Max Eisler #17, Aus dem Stoclet-Fries: Die Umarmung; multi-color collotype after the cartoon for the 1910-1911 mosaic frieze on the east wall of the dining hall o...

After Gustav Klimt, Max Eisler Plate #6, Bildnis Frau Serena Lederer; grey monochrome collotype after the 1905 painting in oil on canvas. GUSTAV KLIMT EINE NACHLESE (GUSTAV KLIMT AN...

After Gustav Klimt, Max Eisler Plate #25, Baby; black & white collotype after the 1917 painting in oil on canvas. GUSTAV KLIMT EINE NACHLESE (GUSTAV KLIMT ...

After Gustav Klimt, Max Eisler Plate #19, Bildnis einer alten Dame; sepia-toned monochrome collotype after the 1917 painting in oil on canvas. GUSTAV KLIMT EINE NACHLESE (GUSTAV KLIMT AN AFTERMATH), a portfolio of 30 collotypes prints, 15 are multi-color and 15 are monochrome, on chine colle paper laid down on heavy cream-wove paper with deckled edges; Max Eisler, Editor-Publisher; Osterreichischer Staatsdruckerei (Austrian State Printing Office), Printer; in a limited edition of 500 numbered examples of which: 200 were printed in German, 150 were printed in French and 150 were printed in English; Vienna, 1931. 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of Gustav Klimt’s death. It is a fitting time to reflect upon the enduring legacy and deep impact of his art. Recognizing this need for posterity with uncanny foresight, the publication of Gustav Klimt: An Aftermath (Eine Nachlese) provides a rare collection of work after Klimt which has proven to be an indispensable tool for Klimt scholarship as well as a source for pure visual delight. Approximately 25 percent of the original works featured in the Aftermath portfolio have since been lost. Of those 30, six were destroyed by fire on 8 May 1945. On that fateful final day of WWII, the retreating Feldherrnhalle, a tank division of the German Army, set fire to the Schloss Immendorf which was a 16th century castle in Lower Austria used between 1942-1945 to store objects of art. All three of Klimt’s Faculty Paintings: Philosophy, Medicine and Jurisprudence (1900-1907), originally created for the University of Vienna, were on premises at that time. Also among the inventory of Klimt paintings in storage there was art which had been confiscated by the Nazis. One of the most significant confiscated collections was the Lederer collection which featured many works by Gustav Klimt such as Girlfriends II and Garden Path with Chickens. In many instances, Aftermath is our only link to these lost treasures. Max Eisler (1881-1937), the publisher of the 1931 Aftermath portfolio, was an art historian at Vienna University specializing in modern and contemporary arts and crafts whose 1920 book on Klimt was the first Klimt monograph. He saw An Aftermath as filling-in important gaps left by the earlier print portfolios which had only featured Klimt up to 1913 and which had glossed over major art projects such as the Tree of Life frieze for the Palais Stoclet. And whereas only 10 of the 50 prints from the earlier portfolios published by H.O. Miethke were made in intricate multi-color images, Eisler augmented the earlier format by featuring half of the 30 images in stunning multi-colored collotypes. Understanding the fragile nature of the collotype printing process also reinforces this project’s distinctive and exceptional characteristics. Fragile collotype plates can not be reused. As such, this necessitates the completion of a run on the first go and also dictates a limited production number. Printed by hand, the collotypes required deft handling by the printer, Osterreichische Staatsdruckerei. A complicated and lengthy process involving gelatin colloids mixed with dichromates, the creation of 16 color separation thin glass filters to achieve the light-sensitive internegative images which could faithfully capture all of the painting’s tonal gradations and colors, exposure to actinic light, and delicate chine collie papers which allowed for greater color saturation, the printer’s collaborative role in capturing and transmitting Klimt’s nuanced paint strokes is nothing short of remarkable. The Österreichische Staatsdruckerei (Austrian State Printing Office), was the successor to the KK Hof -und Staatsdruckerei which was founded by Emperor Franz I in 1804 and whose collotype printing innovations of Klimt’s art...

After Gustav Klimt, Max Eisler #18, Der Tod und das Leben; multi-color collotype after original painting (1910-1916) in oil on canvas. GUSTAV KLIMT EINE NACHLESE (GUSTAV KLIMT AN AF...

After Gustav Klimt, Max Eisler Plate #4, Bildnis Baronin Wittgenstein; dark grey monochrome collotype after the 1905 painting in oil on canvas. GUSTAV KLIMT EINE NACHLESE (GUSTAV KLIMT AN AFTERMATH), a portfolio of 30 collotypes prints, 15 are multi-color and 15 are monochrome, on chine colle paper laid down on heavy cream-wove paper with deckled edges; Max Eisler, Editor-Publisher; Osterreichischer Staatsdruckerei (Austrian State Printing Office), Printer; in a limited edition of 500 numbered examples of which: 200 were printed in German, 150 were printed in French and 150 were printed in English; Vienna, 1931. 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of Gustav Klimt’s death. It is a fitting time to reflect upon the enduring legacy and deep impact of his art. Recognizing this need for posterity with uncanny foresight, the publication of Gustav Klimt: An Aftermath (Eine Nachlese) provides a rare collection of work after Klimt which has proven to be an indispensable tool for Klimt scholarship as well as a source for pure visual delight. Approximately 25 percent of the original works featured in the Aftermath portfolio have since been lost. Of those 30, six were destroyed by fire on 8 May 1945. On that fateful final day of WWII, the retreating Feldherrnhalle, a tank division of the German Army, set fire to the Schloss Immendorf which was a 16th century castle in Lower Austria used between 1942-1945 to store objects of art. All three of Klimt’s Faculty Paintings: Philosophy, Medicine and Jurisprudence (1900-1907), originally created for the University of Vienna, were on premises at that time. Also among the inventory of Klimt paintings in storage there was art which had been confiscated by the Nazis. One of the most significant confiscated collections was the Lederer collection which featured many works by Gustav Klimt such as Girlfriends II and Garden Path with Chickens...

After Gustav Klimt, Max Eisler Plate #2, Dame mit Blumenhut (aka The Violet Hat); sepia monochrome collotype after the 1909 painting in oil on canvas. ...

Artist Reproduction plate. Edition 1401A Reihe "Gustav Klimt – Phantastische Meisterwerke" mit einem diagonalen Durchmesser von 22 cm und einer Goldumrandung an. Es handelt sich dabei um die Ausgabe "...." aus dem Jahr 1990, Teller-Nr. ?, die als Reproduktion im Auftrag des Hauses Lilien Porzellan...

Sketch for a Frieze is a vintage, beautiful, and rare collotype from “Gustav Klimt: Fünfundzwanzig Handzeichnungen”, a limited-edition collection of 25 monochrome and two-color collotypes after drawings by Gustav Klimt. Published by Gilhofer and Ranschburg, Vienna, July 1919, just one year after Klimt...

After Gustav Klimt, Max Eisler #30, Brautzug; multi-color collotype after unfinished 1917/18 painting in oil on canvas. Painted in the last months of Klimt’s life, The Bride was one...

After Gustav Klimt, Max Eisler Plate #27, Madchen im Profile; grey-toned monochrome collotype after the 1916 painting in oil on canvas. Original destroyed by fire May 1945. GUSTAV K...

Sketched Portrait is a vintage, beautiful, and rare collotype from “Gustav Klimt: Fünfundzwanzig Handzeichnungen”, a limited-edition collection of 25 monochrome and two-color collotypes after drawings by Gustav Klimt. Published by Gilhofer and Ranschburg, Vienna, July 1919, just one year after Klimt...

After Gustav Klimt, Max Eisler Plate #24, Bildnis Friederike Maria Beer; multi-color collotype after the 1916 painting in oil on canvas. GUSTAV KLIMT EINE NACHLESE (GUSTAV KLIMT AN ...