Klimt [Hardcover]

I will probably be pilloried for this review since the book "sold out in America before its publication date". Maybe that was because of expectations (my own mistake) as opposed to seeing the real thing. I actually ordered two copies separately in order to keep one in my parents' place, and thankfully, have been able to cancel the second.

Klimt has been my favourite painter for over 20 years, and I had imagined that a giant-size tome of the complete paintings would be a revelation. As I turned the pages just now, my rating steadily fell from four to three to two stars. Firstly, from the way that the book has been designed, there is absolutely no reason for it to be more than 30 X 25 cm. The majority (I do not use this word metaphorically) of the pages in the essay section (about 3/4 of the book) are at least 70% text, and the illustrations are mainly half-postcard size. When more than fifty percent of the page is actually used for illustration, more often than not, they print a detail of a painting without a picture of the full painting (except in the catalogue at the end - we will come to that). There are no measurements quoted for the paintings in the main section of the book, and often, the fact that the illustration is only a part of the painting is not mentioned. The paintings are definitely secondary to the text and used to illustrate the essayist's point, rather than the text being secondary to the paintings or a celebration of the paintings. I can understand this in an academic pamphlet, but an 18" X 12" book? Moreover, in many of the pages, vintage photographs, drawings, and paintings are thrown together on the same page willy-nilly in what is at best a very pedestrian, and at worst, a poor layout; even worse is the juxtaposition of totally disparate paintings (in miniature scale) right next to each other, which detracts from both the works, or juxtaposition of the works of Klimt and other contemporary artists, reproduced in the same size (instead of Klimt's works taking priority as would be the normal, and much preferable convention) so that the page resembles nothing more than one of those dark Victorian galleries where unrelated paintings are hung on top of each other on the wall.
Then we come to the actual quality of the reproductions: they just all look slightly less than sharp, and what perplexed me at the beginning was why I did not get that little flutter in the stomach which I always get when I see an illustration of one of Klimt's paintings (most of them anyway) - I had just bought the "Ronald S Lauder and Serge Sabarsky collection" of Klimt, which I really enjoyed even though it illustrated only a fraction of his oeuvre, and so I put them side by side for comparison. The reproductions from the "complete paintings" are definitely not sharp by comparison, and the color separation is also very poor - for example, the Emilie Floge portrait looks really dull and flat as there is a heavy brown tint to the background compared to the Lauder reproduction, and the blue tones of the ground have completely disappeared. Sometimes, it is more subtle; for example, in the Beech Trees, both books reproduce this as an approx. 3X3 inch illustration, but the complete paintings version is just slightly less focused, the overall effect being that the painting just appears dull, whereas in the Lauder version, the colors scintillate and dance in your vision. This is repeated in painting after painting.
As for the catalogue raisonne at the back - the paintings are reproduced in an approximately 3 X 3 inch size, and even at this size, they are not sharp. The landscapes are mostly dull-looking, and to fill in the large page, there are three columns of text - in fact, in the same size font as the normal sized Lauder book.

With only 325 paintings, they could have produced a catalogue of 400 - 450 pages with full page illustrations of every painting, some detailed reproductions, and essays attached, which would have been definitive. As it is, you have a large unwieldy tome that is mainly text, where the poor quality of the reproductions and the dreadful layout have all but destroyed the magic of Klimt. The only relief is that the catalogue raisonne "thumbnails" are not in black and white as is often the case. Take my advice and go out and buy the Lauder book for a third of the price (it is worth it for the essays alone, which are absolutely fascinating), and wait for a definitive book on Klimt to be published. (Taschen please?). In case you wonder if I am one of those grumpy guys who criticize everything, I give quite a few five-star ratings (and I've bought about 100 art books in the past 18 months). This is nowhere near. Look before you buy! Please!

This is an outstanding book. A real definitive, luxury item. The presentation, predominately gold,reflects the essence klimt's work. It was delvered ealier than expected

Being a lover of the work of Klimt I liked the way the book illustrated the characters alongside the paintings, it almost falls into a story. I believe it is a lovely acquisition for anyone who is fond of his work as the detail in the book goes into depth, the artwork is well illustrated and I enjoyed it v.much.