Description of the painting by Gustav Klimt “Golden Fish”

Description of the painting by Gustav Klimt Golden Fish

Klimt is a famous Austrian modernist artist, who preferred paintings of the female body, often nude and erotic, in his paintings. If a man had to get into the picture, usually his face was hidden and hidden by the artist unobtrusively, while the woman always looked straight.

The subject of his paintings caused many controversies in contemporary society – nude flesh seemed immoral to many, critics denounced Klimt, not spoiling languages, but he always ignored their opinion and continued to write in his own style.

The Golden Fish was originally called My Critics and was intended to reflect the artist’s reaction to the stream of criticism following the large order he had completed. Critics reproached him with defiance of morality – in response, Gustav Klimt wrote them a picture that trampled on morality completely and openly sending critics to places where the sun does not shine. In her eyes the artist combines

the underwater world and the human world. Gold plays water permeated by the sun. Pop-eyed fish swims in their fish business.

Algae move, obeying the movement of undercurrents, and amid all this, women are swimming organically, like mermaids or even fish. The two at the top of the picture are just the background, they are not too bright, one has turned its back, the other is grinning, appearing only half.

The central image of the “Golden Fish” is a plump woman sitting in the foreground, highlighted both in composition and with the help of bright colors. Her red hair flutters and waves like seaweed. She is sitting with her back turned to the viewer, turning slyly – her expression expresses derision and fun, something like the phrase “Well, have you eaten?”.

The obvious eroticism of her image only adds to the sneer of piquancy, makes it almost indecent.

This picture was followed by a new squall of criticism, which Klimt ignored.


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Description of the painting by Gustav Klimt “Golden Fish”