Three ages of woman

Gustav Klimt's Picture “Three ages of a woman”, written in 1905, is sometimes called "Mother and Child." There are many reproductions of this canvas, which are limited to only part of the image - the part on which a blossoming young woman holds a child in her arms. And there is some bitter irony in this, probably corresponding to the idea of the artist himself.

In Three Ages, an elderly woman is depicted in the background, and, unlike a mother and a child, she is not striking. Feminists have repeatedly accused Klimt of supporting the belief that a woman’s life ends with her reproductive age. Of course, the artist did not adhere to progressive views and for the most part painted young women, pleasing to the eyes of the public. Nevertheless, even now this painting can serve as a clear illustration of the important problem of how women in age become “invisible” to society.

This painting, relating to the famous “golden” period of Gustav Klimt’s work, is distinguished by a large number of decorative elements that the artist began to use in his work under the impression of the Byzantine mosaics seen in Ravenna. In addition, some researchers believe that in the "Three ages of women" traced the influence of the British artist Margaret MacDonald, whose work participated in the eighth exhibition of the Vienna Secession in 1900.

It is believed that the figure of an elderly woman was painted under the influence of Auguste Rodin’s sculpture “Old courtesan", Which became part of the ninth exhibition of the Secession in 1901. Klimt admired the work of Rodin and dreamed of a personal meeting. The artist and sculptor met the following year, when the latter arrived in Vienna and, in turn, was very impressed with “Beethoven FriezeKlimt.

During these years, the artist often used a dark background in his works. To some extent, “Three ages of a woman” have something in common with the picture “Death and Life»Of 1908 (here the background was originally golden, but in 1911 Klimt changed it to black and blue): the characters have their eyes closed, and the contrasting images are clearly separated and indicated by very different decorative elements. In Three Ages of a Woman, a girl - a symbol of innocence - sleeps under the reliable protection of her mother’s embrace, the young woman’s eyes are also closed, and they both seem to be in a cocoon, absorbed by each other and not noticing the world around. At the same time, an elderly woman stands alone, completely alone, here she is the most “mundane” of all, and her image is the most unflattering. Her legs and arms are covered with protruding veins, she covers her face with hair and palm, as if from shame. The chest is drained, and the stomach sticks out - probably after many births.

There is another interesting theory regarding ornaments that closely surround female figures. It is believed that Gustav Klimt was very interested in microbiology, and the elements above the head of a young woman resemble colonies of bacteria, and an elderly woman stands among elongated protozoa that are meant to symbolize death and decay. Obviously, these ornaments were intended to emphasize the main idea of the artist about the inevitable transition of each person from life to death and that the process of dying begins from the very moment of birth.

Author: Evgenia Sidelnikova