Exposing Interior Identity: A New Perspective on Ornament in the Bodies of Klimt's Society Portraits

Scholarship on Gustav Klimt tends to focus on his society portraits and his nude sketches as independent categories within his oeuvre. However, his evolution as an artist reveals that the trajectory of each of these... [ view full abstract ]

Scholarship on Gustav Klimt tends to focus on his society portraits and his nude sketches as independent categories within his oeuvre. However, his evolution as an artist reveals that the trajectory of each of these genres developed symbiotically, and insight into the women whom he captured suggest similar overlap. In a time when femininity brought connotations of ornament, submissiveness, and passivity, Klimt repurposed ornament to empower his subjects. By using ornament to express the authentic identity of his sitters, Klimt subverts traditional readings of ornament in fin-de-siecle Vienna and allows his decorated women to be appreciated both for their beauty and for their potential. In doing so, Klimt bridges the gap between the paid models he captured nude in his studio and the society women he depicted for public consumption, suggesting that the sexuality, character,and intellect that his women remain known for transcends the bounds of class structure. Klimt's suggestion of space in the background of his society portraits situates his subjects in a place without place, a heterotopia in which the subjects have the freedom to express their authentic identity. At the same time, Klimt was well aware of the prestige held by Vienna's society women, and the intended function of his portraits: situated in the liminal space between public and private of the female-lead salon, Klimt's portraits create a ubiquitous space of authenticity, where marginalized identity is free to realize its potential.