Death and Life

Date: 1911
Medium: oil on canvas
Location: private collection
Dimensions: 177.8 x 198.1

Gustav Klimt uses old, traditional scenes in the mysterious painting Death and Life. He reworks them and makes them unbridledly contemporary and modern. The painting is based on the theme of the Dance of Death, a medieval theme depicting death coming to all without distinction. Designed so that death will find you, whether you are a peasant, a priest or a prince.

Death usually carries an hourglass or a scythe with her, but in Klimt Death holds a club, which is not so common, but looks much more menacing and dangerous. Her skull eagerly observes life. Young, strong and healthy characters and small children who have their whole lives ahead of them. The background around Smrtka is all dark, dark while the young, full of life people have patterns of colorful flowers to symbolize life.

Klimt painted picture Death and Life in 1911. Prevailing color of this fine art print is blue and its shape is landscape. Original size is 177.8 x 198.1. This art piece is located in a private collection This image is printed on demand - you can choose material, size and finishing.

Gustav Klimt (1862-1918). As a painter, Klimt represents the best period of Vienna – a time when the works of Sigmund Freud or Mahler were developing, and Vienna was at the very least the Central European centre of culture and education. Klimt’s work combines symbolism and Byzantine features that create the undertone of his Art Nouveau style. Klimt’s images have a special, even anxious, atmosphere that often shows the Freudian idea of ​​erotica in any human movement and action. Klimt paints two-dimensionally, with intense colour while at the same time very gently and with refined dignity. Among Klimt’s famous works are the Water Snakes - two women with stylized, interwoven bodies that evoke the surreal world of fantasy and sensuality. Another masterpiece is Danae, a work inspired by Greek mythology, depicting a girl seized by Zeus, who was turned into a golden rain (Danae later gave birth to Perseus). His paintings often aroused passions and public protests, not only for their content but also for the innovative painting methods - eg. The Girlfriends, an image of two women at a romantic meeting.