Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 13

Johanna Schwarzbeck
Gold & Despair

2017

About the Item

Gold & Despair is my adaptation of Gustav Klimt’s masterpiece "The Woman In Gold", also known as The Mona Lisa of Austria. Having admired the symbolic art of Klimt since my working days as a fine art restorer at Vienna’s prestigious Conservation Institute (Bundesdenkmalamt) in the 1980’s, I conceived the idea to recreate the jewel of his gilded period with an interpretive lens on the looming darkness of the Holocaust and World War II. As a native of Austria, Salzburg, I have developed an appreciation for Klimt’s art, and Art Nouveau in general. For the last thirty years, I have lived in New York City and worked as a fine art restorer, conservator, and painter as well as in the healing arts. Klimt had executed The Woman in Gold in the span of four years (1903-1907). My own creative process during 2014-2017, reflects my diligent care and thoroughness in rendering the original painting. In 2014, I started with the preparation of the canvas using Klimt’s original size of 54 x 54 inches (167 x 167 cm). For gesso, I used the traditional method of rabbit skin glue and chalk. For the painting, I used oil paints and genuine 23.5 karat gold in various shades, as well as silver leaves, to magnify the brilliant sheen of Klimt’s gold-enshrined muse and model, Adele Bloch-Bauer. The portraiture of Bloch-Bauer in her ornate cape resembles numerous European Schutzmantel-Madonnas (Madonna with the sheltering mantle) paintings from earlier periods. The Schutzmantel-Madonnas sculptures and paintings symbolically depict a safe haven for the rich and poor alike. For me, the souls of the Jews and victims killed in World War II may have finally found solace and peace in Adele’s mantle. My empathy for the unspeakable sufferings of the Holocaust’s victims is seen in my added artistic statement to Klimt’s original: juxtaposed against the golden aura of Adele are the black and white photographic images depicting the victims of the Holocaust. As a feminist, I use my paintings and healing artwork to create a vision of social justice and safety for all. I foresee a future that respects the feminine with the same reverie invoked by Klimt’s golden, glistening Madonna.

More From This Seller

View All
Judith & Donald
By Johanna Schwarzbeck
Located in Brooklyn, NY
This is my adaptation of Gustav Klimt’s "Judith and the Head of Holofernes.” Klimt’s painting depicts the biblical character of Judit...
Category

2010s Surrealist Mixed Media

Materials

Gold Leaf

The Sunday Stroll
By Johanna Schwarzbeck
Located in Brooklyn, NY
THE SUNDAY STROLL - ADAPTED TO TODAY'S TIMES Carl Spitzweg, the painter of "The Sunday stroll," was a German genre painter representing the Biedermeier ...
Category

2010s Romantic Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Leanna's Dream
By Johanna Schwarzbeck
Located in Brooklyn, NY
In my appropriation of Henri Rousseau's painting "The Dream," I replaced his nude reclining on the couch with my sister Leanna. I envisioned her magically transported into a lush ju...
Category

2010s Surrealist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Acrylic

"The Pollock", mixed media split portrait series
By Andrew Cotton
Located in Brooklyn, NY
NOTE: This split portrait artwork is part of a limited collection of one of a kind pieces. Please inquire as to whether this specific piece is still available. If not, artist Andrew Cotton will be happy to create a brand new custom piece, highly similar yet with its own unique character. Paper, wheat paste...
Category

2010s Mixed Media

Materials

Mixed Media

"Ali"- Mixed Media Creation Utilizing Original Objects
Located in Brooklyn, NY
Koray Kasap began his studies at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts Faculty in 1987, graduating from the Department of Stage and Image, specializing in Photography. Over his nearly three-decade c...
Category

2010s Contemporary Mixed Media

Materials

Gold Leaf

Green & Gold Sensuality
Located in Brooklyn, NY
The beauty of the female form.
Category

2010s Contemporary Figurative Paintings

Materials

Gold Leaf

You May Also Like

"Dream Pieces" Contemporary Silhouette Mixed Media on Canvas with Frame
Located in Baltimore, MD
"Dream Pieces" is a framed mixed media work on canvas by Christopher Peter, depicting an abstracted silhouette of a female figure. The artist's technique of layering paints, handmade...
Category

2010s Contemporary Portrait Paintings

Materials

Gold Leaf

The Affected Memory , Oil, Mixed Media, Hyperrealism Surreal Modern Cuban Art
By Brian Sanchez
Located in Houston, TX
LOOK FOR FREE SHIPPING AT CHECKOUT The Affected Memory 46" x 36" x 2" The Affected Memory shows the hyperrealism of modern Cuban art that is now available to the international art m...
Category

2010s Surrealist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Gold Leaf

CUSTOM Contemporary Art, Gold Leaf Portrait, Modern Art-Harmony
By Addison Jones
Located in Delaware , OH
CUSTOM Contemporary Art, Gold Leaf Portrait, Modern Art-Harmony ABOUT THIS PIECE: “Harmony, (Behtyie-A13)” is mixed media portrait art by Addison Jones featuring her own portrait ph...
Category

2010s Contemporary Mixed Media

Materials

Gold Leaf

"Dip Dance" Contemporary Couple Silhouette Framed Mixed Media on Canvas
Located in Baltimore, MD
"Dream Pieces" is a framed mixed media work on canvas by Christopher Peter, depicting an abstracted silhouette of two people dancing. The artist's technique of layering paints, handm...
Category

2010s Contemporary Mixed Media

Materials

Gold Leaf

Fur Trapper in Winter - Portrait in Oil on Canvas
Located in Soquel, CA
Fur Trapper in Winter - Portrait in Oil on Canvas Majestic full length portrait of a fur trapper standing in the snow by John Pieron. A man stands an...
Category

Late 20th Century Romantic Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Melancholy female figure oil on canvas painting
By Josep Maria Draper
Located in Barcelona, Barcelona
Josep María Draper was born in 1931 and received a great creative influence from the 1950s. Abstract Expressionism, a form of painting tha...
Category

1990s Romantic Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Recently Viewed

View All