The epitome of truth is death. Our all anxieties, insecurities in life, desires, failures all come to a halt with death. We may philosophize or fantasize death, but there is no denying that no one can ever escape the cold hands of the grim reaper. Poets, painters, musicians or scientists, all express death in many unique ways. One such representation is Gustav Klimt’s Death and Life – a painting which was honored with a first prize at the 1911 International Art Exhibition in Rome. Klimt believed that this was his most important figurative work.
We may philosophize or fantasize death, but there is no denying that no one can ever escape the cold hands of the grim reaper. #Travel #wanderer #wanderlust #painting Click To Tweet
Death and Life in the Leopold Museum
In 2013, while I was going through a terrible trauma personally, I met Death and Life, in the Leopold Museum in Vienna, Austria. I have always perceived death as the boundless, formless, infinite, eternal, undivided, unmoved, and unchanging Reality. Klimt made my perception alive on his canvas, albeit his death has a form and symbol.
Everything that has a beginning, has an ending. Death is a part of life and lurks maliciously, ready to strike at any time. In this artwork, the extreme color contrasts convey a disturbing allegory of the ephemeral and cyclic nature of existence.
~ Google Arts & Culture
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Death And Life by Gustav Klimt
Before I go on to describe this fascinating painting, I must thank Leopold Museum, which allowed me to photograph the famous painting (without flash of course!). You too can decorate a corner of your home with this profound piece of art. Check the price of Death and Life on Canvas on Amazon.
I have always perceived death as the boundless, formless, infinite, eternal, undivided, unmoved and unchanging Reality. Klimt made my perception alive on his canvas, albeit his death has a form and symbol. Click To TweetDescription of Klimt’s Death and Life
Death is on the left and is looking at life with a malicious grin.
Painted in gloomy violet-blue shades and wrapped in a long cloak of crosses and circles, death appears lonely and skeletal.
~ Google Arts & Culture
To the right, we see life. In life, every age group is represented, starting from the baby to the grandmother; life is perhaps a depiction of never-ending circle. We see a newborn child lying in the arms of his mother and a muscular man is holding one of the women. By over-representation of women, Klimt perhaps wanted to emphasize the source of all life.
On the right, we find life instead; a harmonious tangle of naked bodies, who are separated and brought together by geometric motifs. These motifs symbolize the magma of vital energy, where existence is depicted at every stage.
~ Google Arts & Culture
If one looks keenly the diverse faces of life, it is obvious that they are not threatened by death instead they seem indifferent.
Death is on the left and is looking at life with a malicious grin. To the right, we see life. In life, every age group is represented, starting from the baby to the grandmother; life is perhaps a depiction of never ending circle. Click To TweetMy Realization on Klimt’s Death and Life
After seeing this painting, I felt, nothing could be more creative than death, since it is the whole secret of life. I remember a quote by Franz Kafka
The meaning of life is that it stops.
Klimt too had depicted this eternal truth through his canvas. Although life is represented on the flower bed, still the truth is death is waiting for everyone. Buy Death and Life on Canvas and decorate a corner of your house with a profound piece of art.
The meaning of life is that it stops. Click To Tweet The only dream of eternity we have left, the only way we can escape death , is love! Click To TweetSimilar articles from Travel Realizations
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