The Beethoven Frieze hostile forces, the three Gorgons Gustav Klimt (1862-1918)

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.