The Beethoven Frieze hostile forces, the three Gorgons Gustav Klimt (1862-1918)
Gustav Klimt – The Beethoven Frieze hostile forces, the three Gorgons
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Painter: Gustav Klimt
Location: Galerie Belvedere, Wien.
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In 1902, a memorial exhibition was held at the Viennese Secession to commemorate the great Ludwig van Beethoven. Gustav Klimt saw the musician as a genius and his creative work as the embodiment of love. Especially for the exhibition in 1902, the artist created the Beethoven Frieze. The public reacted negatively to the painting: it was called lifeless and harsh, and the figures were considered repulsive.
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Description of Gustav Klimt’s Beethoven Frieze
In 1902, a memorial exhibition was held at the Viennese Secession to commemorate the great Ludwig van Beethoven. Gustav Klimt saw the musician as a genius and his creative work as the embodiment of love.
Especially for the exhibition in 1902, the artist created the Beethoven Frieze. The public reacted negatively to the painting: it was called lifeless and harsh, and the figures were considered repulsive. This was particularly true of the three gorgon figures. They lacked chastity, purity and self-control, the public said. Such reviews are the reason for the genitalia, eggs and sperm depicted on the canvas.
The composition on the left wall features a knight who sets out to fight evil forces. He is followed by women who symbolize Victory and Compassion. The composition on the right consists of figures - symbols of Joy and God’s Spark. The central image features evil forces. Among them are Typhon, the gorgons, which are a symbol of sickness, madness and death. The female figures on the right side symbolize voluptuousness, passion and intemperance, while the woman to the side is a symbol of longing.
At that time, the public was not yet accustomed to the free use of lines, forms, and ornamentation. The audience did not understand what the frieze symbolized. Nor did they understand its finale, which is the personification of a man’s salvation by a woman.
In creating the painting, Klimt did not expect to exhibit it further after the exhibition. Therefore, the frieze was unavailable to the public for the following years. But from the end of the last century it returned to its place in the Viennese Secession.
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On the left, a monstrous, ape-like creature with wide, staring eyes and bared teeth dominates the foreground. Its hairy, brown form is imposing, and its expression conveys aggression and primal instinct. To its right, a group of pale, idealized nude women stand in a frieze-like manner. They appear delicate and vulnerable, adorned with serpentine hair and gold ornamentation, suggesting they are either victims or symbols of temptation.
Further to the right, a darker, more abstract section of the painting features swirling patterns and textures of blues, browns, and golds. In this area, two figures are depicted in a strained embrace. They are rendered in muted tones, appearing almost as shadows or ghosts, emphasizing a sense of despair or suffering. Intertwined with their forms and the surrounding patterns are serpentine elements and ornate, almost organic, shapes, suggesting the pervasive nature of sin and corruption. The overall impression is one of a relentless battle between dark, primal forces and the frailty of humanity.
The subtexts in this piece are rich and complex. The monstrous figure can be interpreted as the embodiment of lust, greed, or the brutal, irrational aspects of human nature. The women, with their alluring yet vulnerable forms and serpentine hair (a reference to the Gorgons of Greek mythology, who turned people to stone), represent temptation and the seductive dangers that lead to sin. The embrace in the center signifies the suffering and torment that result from succumbing to these hostile forces.
Klimt, through his characteristic use of gold leaf and intricate patterns, creates a sense of opulent yet unsettling beauty. The contrast between the detailed, almost decorative style and the dark subject matter heightens the psychological tension. The painting can be seen as a visual representation of Nietzsches idea of the struggle against the beast within and the Dionysian forces that threaten to overwhelm the Apollonian ideals of order and reason, as explored in Wagners music, which inspired the frieze. The overall theme speaks to the eternal conflict between primal desires and the human aspiration for beauty, love, and redemption.