Modernism in the making Gustav Klimt Essay Example for Free

Modernism in the making Gustav Klimt Essay The early twentieth century is a period that gave rise to a number of artists distinguished as the best in their respective fields. From engravers, to painters, to sculptors and to literary greats, these individuals changed and modified the way their art was made and interpreted. They extended the tradition visions and opened new horizons for the world to better understand art. Gustav Klimt was one of these innovators, an artist that fascinated everyone with his unique style and approach in painting. Gustav Klimt, who lived from July 14, 1862 until February 6, 1918, was born in Baumgarten. He had four sisters and two brothers, and was the second eldest of them all. His father Ernst Klimt was from Bohemia and worked as a gold engraver. At a very early age, Gustav Klimt veered greatly towards art and enrolled at the State School of Applied Arts in Vienna where he studied a field called architectural painting. This led to a career in painting interiors and large ceilings of different public structures. A lot of murals in these buildings were also accredited to Klimt (Fliedl, 2006). In 1897, Klimt’s effect to the art world increased when he and others founded the Vienna Secession, a group of artists dedicated in bringing to the public works of unconventional artists. The group preferred no particular style, and different approaches to art existed under one roof. The movement became a revolt towards academic art style, challenging the views of the conservative fine arts (Sterling and Clark Art Institute, 2002). Throughout his lifetime, Klimt received numerous citations and awards for his contributions to art. One of these is the prestigious Golden Order of Merit from the Emperor Franz Josef. His group the â€Å"Company of Artists†, composed of himself, his brother Ernst, and their friend Franz Matsch also gained praises from both the academic and popular art divisions (Fliedl, 2006). Aside from art, Klimt also had a family by his side, with Emilie Floge as his wife. It is, however, quite known to many that Klimt had several relationships with different women, fathering a total of 14 children (Collins, 2001). But Emilie Floge stayed dedicated to Klimt, being his companion until his death at the relatively young age of 55 (Fliedl, 2006). Gustav’s style was known to many to be a revolution and a transformation from traditional works, and clearly from the common academic teachings of his time. His began developing his personal style at about the same time when the Vienna Secession took shape. It also evident that Klimt was consciously connected with the environment and factors around him that could have influenced his way of thinking. Klimt lived in the town of Vienna during the turn of the century. It was a time where a great battle between different aspects and standards of life was going on. Gilles Neret (1993) described the scene: Artists and intellectuals developed enormous creativity, torn as they were between reality and illusion, between the traditional and the modern. With inhabitants such as Sigmund Freud, Otto Wagner, Gustav Mahler and Arnold Schonberg, the city was a â€Å"Laboratory of the Apocalypse†, a late bloom, a last creative tumult before its decline. (p. 7) It was within this â€Å"laboratory† where Klimt created his work, bringing up a linkage between a passing world of tradition and an emerging one of modernism (Neret, 1993). Just like many other artists in his time, Klimt was challenged to create something totally unique and different, something that would reflect his own feelings and personality. He achieved this by creating art works that are very ornamental. Gold and shiny colors are very much present in his works, such as in the painting entitled â€Å"Adele Bloch-Bauers Portrait†. The portrait depicts a woman in elegancy, covered with a magnificent flowing dress of gold. The background was also painted in gold and yellowish hues. Aside from the colors, several jewelries can also be seen around the subject’s arms and neck. One interesting thing about the painting is the presence of different styles, yet common theme, patterns along the dress of the subject and on the background. These figures composed of eyes, triangles, squares, and circles, are another trademark of the artist. Klimt uses a lot of kaleidoscopic elements in his work. Most of these can be seen as symbolic, and it would take a little more effort to be able to draw the different meanings from Klimt’s works. Another common theme of Klimt’s art is the erotic element in his art. Vienna during those days fostered a languid yet exalted atmosphere which could have encouraged the artist to work a lot on eroticism (Neret, 1993). He is fond of using women as his subjects, and exposes their beauty and sweetness in the form of painting. The effectiveness of this element is manifested perfectly in this work â€Å"Judith I†. This is another image of a woman, also painted in a flavorful golden background. Her neck is covered with a broad ornament, also colored gold. On her hand hangs the head of a man. Although covered with some clothing, a great deal of flesh and skin is blatantly revealed. Also, aside from holding a head, her left hand is positioned as if pushing the part of her dress away, intentionally exposing her right breast. The eroticism of the image is additionally stressed by the sensual expression of the woman: eyes and lips almost showing signs of inner ecstasy and goodness. Nevertheless, Klimt was able to capture the beauty and perfection of a woman, without compensating any single angle on which a woman may be viewed. Klimt’s eroticism, however, became the subject of many critics. One of his greatest controversies is the attack on his murals for a Vienna university due to the bold and pornographic essence they hold (Sterling and Clark Art Institute, 2002). This however, had little effect on Klimt as he continued working with eroticism and women. Personally, I do not find the styles of Gustav Klimt to be a sign of pornography and taboo. Klimt used eroticism to further increase the sensuality of his paintings, adding a new dimension to the flat portrait of his subjects. Also, his use of this element must be seen symbolically and not just as a random factor in his works. Gustav Klimt used a lot of symbols in his paintings, from the kaleidoscopic images to different repeating patterns around and on the subject, and even the subjects themselves. One final work of Klimt that was able to grab my utmost attention is â€Å"The Kiss†, a painting that was said to be one of Klimt’s greatest works. It is an image of a couple in an intense scene where the male is passionately kissing the female. Sensuality is present in the painting, and a hint of ecstasy can be seen from the woman’s expression. Both are shrouded in something that looks like a golden veil. The broad background is in a bronze color, with different shadings of gray and black. On the foot of the couple lies a carpet of green area with dots of pastel colors scattered all over. This area is not that symbolical, and an experienced viewer can easily depict this as a garden, or probably a meadow of flowers where the lovers did their kiss. As with his previous works, a lot of repeating patterns are used in the painting. The male’s clothing is covered with rectangles of colors ranging from white to black. Some are â€Å"transparent†, and reveals the golden overall color of the male’s suit. The female on the other hand is covered with circles of different colors and sizes. On the bottom part of the female, particularly on her legs and feet hangs golden necklaces that extend to the carpet of flowers. The painting as a whole is a treasure throve of symbols. This can be interpreted in different ways. The golden veil, for example, can be a sign of endlessness and infinity. It shows how strong a kiss can be in creating a union between a male and a female. Time was symbolized as an imperishable element like gold. The painting also evokes a â€Å"sparkling feeling† when someone kisses another. Aside from the golden color, the positioning of the subjects also shows the superiority of the male. The woman, with her facial features, expresses succumbing to the power the kiss of male gives. But the hug by her hands suggests a mutual understanding between the two, and not just any abuse of patriarchal power over feminism. The patterns on the dresses of the subjects also serves as symbols that provide additional foundation on the painting. The rectangles signify a being full of strength and power. The black and white scheme also fosters an atmosphere of courage in the male. He was also wearing a crown of vines that shows wisdom and knowledge. On the other hand, the circles define womanhood – caring, warm, open, and eternal. Some circles are drawn inside larger circles, which might suggest pregnancy and formation of a new life inside an old one. The painting â€Å"The Kiss† is ever since opened to different interpretations and translations. Some would say that it shows power of men, others would decode it as a balanced act of love, while still many unravels it as a hidden desire of pleasure in women. Nobody really knows what Gustav Klimt was thinking when he created this work, and this is what makes â€Å"The Kiss† special. It is a work embedded with numerous symbols waiting to be identified and clarified. And this is what makes viewing a Klimt painting enjoyable. Each picture tends to create a sensation of difference and a struggle to derive the real meaning of the symbols found in the artwork. This shows the effectiveness of Klimt as an artist – someone who can stimulate an audience’s mind to think beyond the normal. References: Collins, J. (2001). Klimt: Modernism in the making. Canada: University of Michigan Press Fleidl, G. (2006). Klimt. Berlin: Taschen Neret, G. (1993). Gustav Klimt. Berlin: Taschen Sterling and Clark Art Institute. (2002). Gustav Klimt Landscapes. Retrieved May 03, 2008, from http://www. clarkart. edu/exhibitions/klimt/klimt/bio. cfm â€Å"Adele Bloch-Bauers Portrait† image from NBC news archive, April 9, 2006. Retrieved May 02, 2008, from http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/12187512/ â€Å"Judith I† image from All Posters website, 2008. Retrieved May 02, 2008, from http://www. allposters. com/-sp/Judith-I-Posters_i324971_. htm â€Å"The Kiss† image from Art in the Picture website. Retrived May 02, 2008, from http://www. artinthepicture. com/paintings/Gustav_Klimt/The-Kiss/

Medical Conditions Of Concentration Camps :: essays research papers

Medical Conditions of Concentration Camps The medical conditions in concentration camps were very horrable. Many things happened to the prisoners at this camp and most of the worst things happened because of the medical treatments. Throughout all the camps medical experiments were performed on the prisoners. They were not only performed on the jewish but on all different kinds of people that were at the camps. The experiments were for the most part either harsh or deadly. Some of the experiments were as follows. People were submersed in ice cold water for hours on end to test out new kinds of suits. Others were deprived of oxygen, sterilized, had patches of there skin burned, or immediatly killed by an injection to the heart for dissection. Some people were also sent away to anatomy hospitals. One of the most desired places to be by doctors was Block 10. Block 10 was in Auschwitz and was a medical block. It meant the difference between life and death for many people in Auschwitz. There were benefits and disadvantages to being there for both the doctors and the prisoners. For a doctor it was seen as a chance to do any and all experiments they thought might be interesting. For prisoners it was a chance to live, if they were lucky. Some prisoners were taken by doctors for experiments and depending on the nature of the experiment they might live for a long time or be killed imediatly. Doctors picked which people should be killed through a selection process. A person could be killed for having as little as a tiny scar, or because ofa defect, or anything at all. The doctors of Block 10 are most remembered. The two that stand out most are Josef Mengele and Ernst B. Josef Mengele as one of the cruelest doctors who killed many, many people. He was said to be seen at selections night and day. And in some cases even taking children to the gas chambers by playing a game with them.

A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings

Literary Analysis of â€Å"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings† â€Å"When Pelayo and Elisend first find the fallen man, they regard him as human, he is â€Å"dressed like a ragpicker†Ã¢â‚¬  (McFarland). Gabriel Garcia Marquez short story â€Å"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings† is a fabulous story about an angel in â€Å"pitiful condition of a drenched great-grandfather† with â€Å"Huge buzzard wings† (Marquez 294). Marquez uses magical realism to express the literary elements of the old man, in third person point of view, and with several interpretations.In the short story, Marquez shows two major elements of magic realism. The two elements were the old man and, the girl who has been turned into a spider. The people in the story treat the old man as an oddity. He was not treated like an angel instead he was treated more like a freak of nature. The old man appears to be nothing more than a frail human with wings, and so his status as an angel is endlessly debated. â€Å"What surprised him the most, however, was the logic of his wings.They seemed so natural on that completely human organism that he couldn’t understand why other men didn’t have them too† (Marquez 298). Father Gonzaga thinks that he cannot be an angel because he lacks dignity and splendor. â€Å"Father Gonzaga went into the chicken coop and said good morning to him in Latin. The parish priest had his first suspicion of an imposter when he saw that he did not understand the language of god† (Marquez 295). Of course this begs the question of whether the angel lacks dignity, or whether he just lacks dignity because of the way he is treated, being imprisoned in a chicken coop.Perhaps it is the people who lack dignity, not the old man. The old man's other supernatural characteristic is his incredible patience in the face of his treatment which does not make much of an impression on the majority of the people, who are happy to exploit him until bored with him. The magic realism for Spider-Girl is a clear contrast with the Old Man; whereas, he is difficult to interpret because he is not trying to please the crowd. The Spider-Girl delights the people with the clarity of her story. while still practically a child she had sneaked out of her parents’ house to go to a dance, and while she was coming back through the woodsafter having danced all night without permission, a fearful thunderclap rent through the sky in two and through the crack came the lightning bolt of brimstone that changed her into a spider† (Marquez 297). â€Å"When a new spectacle arrives, the woman who has been changed into a spider for disobeying her parents, the community shifts their attention to her. A typical carnival hoax or sideshow â€Å"freak†Ã¢â‚¬  (McFarland).Unlike the Angel, the people do not debate her status as a spider; it is taken for granted. The story is written in third person point of view, in the eyes in Pela yo, in order to show the isolation of the old man is feeling. As the story begins and as Pelayo finds the old man, he does not understand who or what the old man is, until he hears the old man’s â€Å"sailor’s voice†. â€Å"This explanation is merely arbitrary, however, because basic logic rejects the interpretation and makes Pelayo’s explanation merely humorous† (Slomski).The story makes it difficult to understand how the old man is feeling due to the point of view it is written. If the story is switched to the point of view of the old man, it would be easier to understand the feelings and alienation the old man is being faced. â€Å"They would drive him out of the bedroom with a broom and a moment later finds him in the kitchen† (Marquez 298). This quote displays the alienation the old man felt through Pelayo’s eyes. â€Å"The second interpretation is made by a neighbor woman who is thought to know â€Å"everything about life and death. The humor of her interpretation arises in the certainty with which she pronounces that the  old  man  is an angel† (Slomski). Marquez use of magical realism and literary elements, in a third person point of view, proved many interpretations. â€Å"Thus, the Magical Realism of Garcia Marquez’s style — a blurring of the division between the real and the fantastic — is used to underscore the notion (indeed, the seeming contradiction) that the irrational is a natural part of life† (Slomski). By analyzing, the literary elements of third person/omniscient point of view, imagery and characterization are what alienate the fabulous characters. A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings An old man with enormous wings is an interesting short story with elements of mysticism.   Gabriel Josà © Garcà ­a Mà ¡rque with the tool of his Magical realism unfurled the world of reality to incorporate the   myth and supernatural elements in his stories. Gabriel used this tool with great dexterity to spear into our senses our own predicaments toward the nature’s mystic world.This is the whole essence of An Old man with enormous wings. Here I will delve in this short story how with the lively characters of   an old man and woman and a mystic old man with wings, Gabriel brought our real life and our connection with the nature in close proximity.The magic realism has a characteristic of deep fantasy marked with flamboyance and intermittent mystery. It goes to the credit of Gabriel that he created fantasy and the real world in proximity with each other and seems to be   equal. The   whole village has people full of life as if the real characters have been simmered into the words, still the smell of mystesism can be felt when people realize the old man with wings is in possession of   magical powers. It is his mysterous nature which is a center of attraction.The story starts with an old man and woman when they were collecting and throwing crabs in the sea. Pelayo suddenly came across an old angel with dilapitated wings and called his wife Elisenda. At the first site of an angel, both were puzzled and the neighbor lady went to further extent to claim that this angel must have come to take away the child but as he is old, rain and thunderstorm thumped him into the ground. The old couple picked up an angel and put him in a chicken coop just like other chickens.The most intriguing aspect is of the story is when characters come to know that this is not a normal bird or animal or human being, he is a human but with wings and therefore he is not a man. Still Doctor after examining his wings remarks why humans do not have these wings? Here Gabreil presented him as so natural that it seems this winged creature is normal yet incredible and we are made to believe his imaginary sense of perception.The old man with wings, a vivid character is described with the help of sensory imagination, which poises in us the clear picture and makes it lively. Garcà ­a Mà ¡rquez enables us not only to visualize the old man, but also feel his mystic parts and his whistling heart.The imagery makes us understand the supernatural stereotypic elements that we hold about angels and also makes us understand that old man with wings does not possess any of the heroic or exalted qualities but just like any other poor human being, is earthly, weak and poor. (Faulkner, 1999).   Even Father Gonzaga also said that there is nothing in him that can be compared to the beautiful and dignity of angles, thus though supernatural and mystic he is.Garcia Marquez increased the anxiousness of the readers on the question of angels as real but not fictitious and is n ot like what we have been visualizing. This old man with wings is not anywhere near to our conventional angels who are powerful, beautiful and immortal, or send by God. This angel is old and decrypt, powerless, totally left at the mercy of strangers, but as mentioned in the book he has magical qualities that rendered him a superior position. He is a bizarre mixture of holiness and the blasphemy.It appears as if he has come to make the old couple’s life comfortable and he did that. When he is kept in Chicken coop, slowly and slowly, son of old couple recovered, over and above Paloya and his wife’s earnings too improved when they started charging the fees from the villagers who so ever came to see this strange creature. Whole village is giving his or her own interpretation regarding the originality of this angel hiding the true nature of this old man.The story moves as if it is not a fable but only a conventional idea what the people stores and hold. Until the end of the story, uncertainty remains and we are not able to know the mystery of this winged creature – how it came and from where it came. This uncertainty implied not only to the winged creature but also to the life – the life in which we are living now and a life where the uncertainty prevails. Through these mystic creatures, writer tries to emphasize that anything can happen, as this whole world is full of mysteries.The descriptions of imaginary poetry also seems to be real, and complain of a villager of his problem of sleep because stars in the night disturbs him, also appears to be true, a simple medical problem ( Faulkner, 1999). And this impression of villagers, Garcà ­a Mà ¡rquez's created by the use of narrative voice, in the voice of a third person, and is aware of all the facts and as such readers trust him. This is also true that narrator tries to endorse upon us the idea that nothing is impossible in this world, and nature has in store numerous complex beings, wh ich even our eyes cannot perceive.With the supernatural elements, Gabriel also used Irony as a tool to show the mirror of the other face of human beings- face, which human beings hide behind their virtuous proposition. On one hand, all villagers are showing sympathy to the little old creature but on the other hand all have their own selfish motives. Some one is coming to see the old creature to get cured and some one to make their wish fulfilled. Neighbor wanted creature to be smashed to death.Pelayo and Elisenda, who had put the tiny being in a chicken coop, used it for their own materialistic gains. The people made mockery of this winged creature as any other animal of the circus. Pelayo and Elisenda did not show any sympathy towards the poor creature. This is apparently true in this â€Å"A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings† that human nature is unspiritual yet boasts of spirituality.â€Å"An Old Man with Enormous Wings† contains a brief yet elegant presentation of h uman nature as thoughtless, predatory, and unspiritual humanity. Garcia Marquez by mentioning about several flaws in human nature put forward several ways in which man can turn towards divinity. The selfishness is also visible in the story where Carnival brought a girl changed into spider, as she did not obey her parents.The cruelty lies in the human’s inclination towards spicy news and furor which girl generates by not being virtuous or disobeying parents. Her story projects a true and clear meaning of our daily life: to obey your parents and not to go out dancing whole night. By the arrival of the spider girl, every one’s attention is now diverted from that old angel. The story comes to an end when after so many years of captivity angel again got back his wings and flew off.Several questions remained unanswered in the story. We never come to know from where the angel came and where it has gone?   The connections between what the people perceive and how they respond is left unclear. It is not clear why a neighbor woman thinks that the angel is in danger and recommends killing him, neither it is clear that how and why Pelayo and Elisenda’s baby got cured?Uncertainty remains through out and the people like other readers in the story just make interpretation of events but do not understand them. It is rightly said that it is a fairy tale without any constructive explanation.

Analyzing the Twinkletoes, My Best Girl, and Metropolis...

The St Andrean film poster for Twinkletoes (Charles Brabin, USA, 1926), My Best Girl (Sam Taylor, USA, 1927), and Metropolis (Fritz Lang, Germany, 1927) signifies the rise of the star system and film production companies. Furthermore, it touches on the broadening of the local theatrical audience, the decline of the internationality of film, the popularity of female sexualization, the continued interest in spectacle, and the growing interest in the modern and futuristic. Additionally, the poster mentions the beginnings of a shift from focus on spectacle to narrative. Firstly, one of the most notable of the features of the poster is the names of starring actresses. Unlike previous posters, the prominence of â€Å"Co[l]leen Moore† and â€Å"[M]ary Pickford† indicate the emergence of the star system, which gains momentum in the 1930s, soon after the release of these films. The poster also specifies that this is Pickford’s â€Å"only appearance this year† in an attempt to entice her fans, otherwise unable to see her theatrically. Moreover, the name of the production company for Twinkletoes is also foregrounded. Although the Universum Film AG logo and the local distributor for Metropolis are less stressed, they are still present. Together, these two instances reveal the growing importance of production and distribution companies in the industry. Secondly, by combining three distinct genres, the romantic comedy, the romantic drama, and sci-fi, the poster broadens its local audience,