Stella Rollig, Tobias G. Natter (Editors)
Klimt and Antiquity: Erotic Encounters.
Munich: Prestel, 2017. First edition. 9783791356990 255 pages.
Large-format volume, measuring approximately 9.75" x 12", is bound in pictorial boards, with stamped black lettering to spine and front cover. Book is new.
"Exploring an intriguing aspect of the artist’s work, this book examines Gustav Klimt’s fascination with the ancient world. Gustav Klimt’s 1907 publication of his illustrated edition of Lucian’s ancient work "Dialogues of the Courtesans" was the first time he exhibited his erotic art to the public, and it led to his denouncement by censors disturbed by the work’s graphic content. This volume revives Klimt’s masterful book, which pairs his erotic drawings with Wiener Werkstätte design, and which arguably resulted in the Art Nouveau era’s most beautiful book. Klimt and Antiquity also compares the red- and black figure Attic vases dating from the 5th century with Klimt’s art. It presents Klimt’s antiquity-inspired art as a dialogue between contemporary and ancient art, between genders, and between women’s roles in times of antiquity and modernity. Essays explore Klimt’s interest in ancient art; the ancient role of the courtesan; and the phenomenon of the Greek symposium as fertile ground for Greek art."