The Three Ages of Woman (fragment) Gustav Klimt (1862-1918)

Description of Gustav Klimt’s painting The Three Ages of a Woman

Gustav Klimt repeatedly addressed the subject of women. He was concerned with the inner world of women, as can be seen in the predecessor of the painting The Three Ages of Woman, the painting Love. In his unusual painting, the artist tried to address the broadest possible subject - the psychological state of women in different age categories.

Klimt conventionally divided the whole life of a woman into three periods: youth, maturity and old age. The artist was able to combine the seemingly impossible - life and death, drawing between them a thin connecting thread. Therefore, the picture evoked a variety of feelings in the audience - joy, regret, sadness and joy.

The childish figure symbolizes the carefree period in the girl’s life, when she is bathed in affection and has not yet tasted the grief of a woman’s fate. The stylized image of the adult woman draws attention to her mature beauty and maternal instincts - she cradles the child (that is, herself) to her breast with care. Next to her is an elderly, hunched over woman, the veins in her arms showing that she has worked many hard days in her life.

A certain symbolism is observed in the juxtaposition of the two images - the young woman who is enjoying her life is depicted with her head held high. The old woman, on the contrary - with her head down, symbolizing humility and understanding of her fate.

Society accepted the painting in different ways: some spoke out against the erotic content of the picture (there are few of them), and some pointed out its absence, because the intimate areas are covered by naked bodies and an unusual fabric, similar to the universe. If you look closely at the painting, there is no eroticism there; it radiates energy and light on the one hand, and deadly breath on the other. In a word, everyone understands the painting differently, in principle, like all of Klimt’s works.