Klimt: Park of Schönbrunn

Park of Schönbrunn (1916) by Gustav Klimt

This is another landscape painting involving water by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt.  This time it's a bit of a puzzle.

The painting is of a lake in a Schönbrunn Park in Vienna, Austria.  Last November I tried to do a copy of this painting - see Schönbrunn Park - after Klimt - but I think the original is soooooo much better!

I like the fact that it's a puzzle picture.  You have to stare at it for a bit before you realise this is a painting of a large expanse of water in the middle of a very green park.  Most of the reflections are quite subtle.  The only really significant clue are the clouds in the bottom right hand corner which are only hinted at in the top right corner.  You still have to look at it again to make sure this isn't some isolated pond reflecting the sky.

I like paintings which are not obvious!

Klimt - Island in the Attersee

Island in the Attersee (1902) by Gustav Klimt

This painting by Gustav Klimt is one of my favourites.  It's called Island in the Attersee.  He painted more than one version - and this is the 1902 version.

I first came across it on the cover of the book about Klimt's landscapes which I currently have out of the library - see Gustav Klimt: Landscapes

I absolutely adore the colours in this work.  Colour was also incredibly important in determining the nature of Klimt's imagery.  I also love the really high horizon which is also very characteristic of his work - it plunges your focus into the way the surface of the lake looks.  It has a square format with distinct rectangular zones of colour.

The mountain lake called "Attersee" can be found in the Salzkammergut region of Austria. Klimt used to visit the small island in this lake in summer. Apparently the water is very clear and the lake is favoured by swimmers and sailors.

I wonder if this is the painting he used to hang on his wall so he could dream of summer days in the middle of winter!

I'm not drawing/painting a lot of water at the moment - which is not to say it's not one of my favourite subjects.  So I'm going to start posting work which I like which does portray water - and will maybe learn something in the process

Who's your favourite painter of water?

The Drained Lake, Victoria Park

The Drained Lake - Victoria Park - July 2011
8" x 10" pen and sepia ink in Moleskine sketchbook

This week I walked home from my physio at the hospital via Victoria Park

I planned on sketching the lake on the basis that it must surely have been refilled for the summer months.

Yet again, I was met with a park which for most of 2011 has resembled a very large building site. Huge screens block off access to large parts of the park.  It's so depressing that I now rarely visit.

I ended up sketching the line of stakes which go out to the defunct fountain in the middle of the lake and the puddles which remain in the middle.

All this in the middle of summer after the schools have broken up.

Did nobody at Tower Hamlets Council think it might be a good idea to have most of the park operational in time for the school holidays and the good weather?

I'd add at this juncture that I watched while the lake in St James Park in Central London (which is run by the Royal Parks and is a much bigger lake) was drained, silt removed and then refilled.  I seem to recall think this took a few weeks - and every time I visited I saw vehicles scurrying around the lake bed moving silt around.  It was unsightly while it lasted - but it was also relatively speedy in getting back to normal

Every time I have visited Victoria Park in 2011 all I can see is a nearly drained lake and lots of screens preventing access to the edge.  What I never see are

• any signs of anybody doing anything to the lake
• any signs indicating start and finish dates for any of the jobs being done in the park.  In the past I've always found lack of communication on dates to be an absolute sure-fire indicator of poor project planning and poor project management.

Does nobody at Tower Hamlets Council care about the people who use Victoria Park?