#klimt's lehrer

[artsculturevienna]

Gustav KLIMT (1862-1918) “Porträt Klara Klimt” (um 1880) (Schwester des Künstlers) Öl auf Leinwand “Portrait Klara Klimt” (ca. 1880) (the artist’s sister) Oil on canvas Leihgabe ARGE Sammlung Gustav Klimt Dauerleihgabe im Leopold Museum Loan from ARGE Collection Gustav Klimt Permanent loan at Leopold Museum Ausstellung / Exhibition “KLIMTS LEHRER” Jahre an der Kunstgewerbeschule “TEACHING KLIMT” Studies at the School of Arts and Crafts MAK WIEN / VIENNA - 2021/22

[lieslschillingerarticles]

Review of a new biography, by Cate Haste, on the racy, intellectual jewel of Vienna, Alma Mahler Gropius Werfel, writer of Lieder, lover of the leading creative geniuses of Europe in the first half of the 20th century (including the painter Kokoschka), and beyond.

[artmutt]

The Life of a Muse

Today is the birthday of Alma Schindler Mahler Gropius Werfel, immortalized in one of Tom Lehrer’s songs that noted “all modern women are jealous.” But I wonder how much beyond that song people actually know about Alma?

She was the daughter of the painter Emil Jacob Schindler, known for his absolutely exquisite landscapes. If you want to consider Romantic Realism, Schindler is about as good as they get. Unlike French Academics, who strove for complete realism, and tried to hide every brush stroke to achieve their illusions, Schindler didn’t mind if you saw a brush stroke here or there, because he still managed to achieve astonishing representations of air and light at particular moments.

In addition, Schindler was a popular teacher, so the Schindler household was always filled with young artists, many of whom took an interest in young Alma as she began to come of age. Not the least of these was her “uncle,” Gustav Klimt, who did his very best to seduce the barely-legal Alma. After her father died (in 1892), her mother remarried his young assistant, Carl Moll, who was by no means a shabby painter in his own right.

Alma was only 13 when her father died; Moll was in his late 20s when he became her step-father. The household continued to be a gathering place for Viennese artists and intellectuals. Alma herself, however, was more interested in music than in art, and in addition to playing the piano, she wanted to study composition. So she began to study with the composer Alexander von Zemlinsky.

Having read Alma’s diaries (which she heavily edited prior to publication) it’s unclear if she and Zemlinsky ever actually had an affair. There seems to have been a spark between them, though she found him unattractive. (Zemlinsky would eventually become the brother-in-law of composer Arnold Schoenberg, who also studied composition with him. Quite likely, Alma and Arnold knew each other through Zemlinsky.)

Berthe Zuckerkandl, painted by Anton Kolig.

It was at the home of another notable Viennese “saloniste” - specifically Berthe Zuckerkandl - who liked to gather around her famous people from the arts and music in Vienna, that Alma met the new Director of the Vienna State Opera. She wasted no time in telling him off - she was offended that Mahler had rejected a work by Zemlinsky for performance. (It may have been one of his operas, or a symphonic work.) She preferred Zemlinsky’s compositions to the “awful, Jewish” music that Mahler wrote. Mahler like the young upstart’s attitude. Soon they were “dating,” and then, well, one thing led to another and they were married.

One thing Alma noted was that Mahler insisted that there was only room for one composer in the family, and that she would have to give up composing to be his wife. It’s hard to say if her frustrated artistic ambitions made her restless, or having to be in shadow of a moody, high-strung, neurotic composer and opera conductor just got tiresome after awhile. Mahler was known to have numerous liaisons with singers; that habit may have continued after his marriage. Alma began looking elsewhere as well.

After the death of her daughter to scarlet fever, Alma went off to “take the waters” at a spa, while Gustav was absorbed in his summer composing. While on this little vacation, she made the acquaintance of the young German architect Walter Gropius, who was quite the intense, handsome piece of work in his younger days. Small wonder they were soon canoodling.

Walter, however, was so smitten with Alma that he wrote a letter to Gustav, describing how Mahler must divorce his wife, so that the two of them could be together. Now, getting a little on the side with Walter was one thing, but she wasn’t ready to give up the good life as the wife of a very influential and well-paid man. Walter was sent packing; Gustav saw Sigmund Freud as a marriage counselor, and the marriage limped on, as Mahler’s health declined. He died at age 50. 

Perhaps to console herself after Gustav’s death, Alma sought out the attention of the young Viennese painter Oskar Kokoshka. Mind you, Walter was still in the wings, clamoring for Alma’s attention, but young Oskar apparently offered his own amusements - particularly an obsessive need to paint images of Alma. What narcissist doesn’t enjoy being regarded? They traveled to Italy together, and Kokoshka told Alma she was his muse. His obsession with her yielded many paintings, including at least one masterpiece, “The Tempest, or, The Bride of the Wind.”

But Alma couldn’t seem to choose between Oskar and Walter. When WWI began, things seemed to sort out: Oskar joined the Army, and Alma, assuming he’d end up dead, married Walter. Surprise, surprise, Oskar survived, and was horrified to find that his beloved had married his rival in the meantime. His obsession with Alma remained unabated. He fashioned a life-size doll that looked like her, and took it with him places. (Shades of the movie “Lars and the Real Girl.”)

Alas, her life with Walter was not a bed of roses either. While she liked brooding artistic types, Walter was too busy re-imagining modern architecture to give her his full attention. Soon, she found herself drawn to a young novelist: Franz Werfel. While she tried to restrain herself, she couldn’t resist him. Having sex with Werfel, while she was nine-months pregnant with Gropius’s child, caused her to go into labor. Her daughter Manon was born soon after, and her marriage soon ended. (Manon Gropius, who died as a teenager, was the “angel” who inspired Alban Berg’s Violin Concerto, who died himself just after completing it.)

It was with Werfel that Alma eventually moved to Los Angeles, joining the Viennese ex-pat community there that included her old friend Arnold Schoenberg, as well as film directors, writers, and artists. Hence that obit in the LA Times that inspired Tom Lehrer song.

Ah, a life filled with incident!

[artsculturevienna]

Gustav KLIMT (1862-1918) “Kopfstudie nach einem Gipsmodell im Dreiviertelprofil” Wien, 1878 - Kreide

“Head study based on a plaster model in three-quarter profile” Wien, 1878 - Chalk Leihgabe Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien, Kunstsammlung und Archiv Loan from University of Applied Arts Vienna, Collection and Archive

Ausstellung / Exhibition “KLIMTS LEHRER” Jahre an der Kunstgewerbeschule “TEACHING KLIMT” Studies at the School of Arts and Crafts MAK WIEN / VIENNA - 2021/22

[artsculturevienna]

Ernst KLIMT (1864-1892) - Gustav KLIMT (1862-1918) “Porträt eines Mädchens” (1882) Schwarze Kreide

“Portrait of a girl” (1882) Black Chalk Leihgabe / Loan from ALBERTINA Wien / Vienna

Ausstellung / Exhibition “KLIMTS LEHRER” Jahre an der Kunstgewerbeschule “TEACHING KLIMT” Studies at the School of Arts and Crafts MAK WIEN / VIENNA - 2021/22

[artsculturevienna]

Gustav KLIMT (1862-1918) "Serenade" (1882) Ausstellung / Exhibition “KLIMTS LEHRER” Jahre an der Kunstgewerbeschule “TEACHING KLIMT” Studies at the School of Arts and Crafts MAK WIEN / VIENNA - 2021/22

[artsculturevienna]

Gustav KLIMT (1862-1918) “Die Reiche der Natur” aus Gerlach & Schenk "Allegorien und Embleme", Nr. 39 (1882) Autotypie Leihgabe Sammlung OR Wien "The Realms of Nature" from Gerlach & Schenk "Allegories and Emblems", no. 39 (1882) Autotype Loan from OR Collection Vienna Ausstellung / Exhibition “KLIMTS LEHRER” Jahre an der Kunstgewerbeschule “TEACHING KLIMT” Studies at the School of Arts and Crafts MAK WIEN / VIENNA - 2021/22

[artsculturevienna]

Carl RAHL (1812-1865) “Porträt Rudolf Eitelberger von Edelberg” (zugeschrieben) Wien um 1850 - Öl auf Leinwand

“Portrait Rudolf Eitelberger von Edelberg” (attributed) Vienna ca. 1878 - Oil on canvas

Ausstellung / Exhibition “KLIMTS LEHRER” Jahre an der Kunstgewerbeschule “TEACHING KLIMT” Studies at the School of Arts and Crafts MAK WIEN / VIENNA - 2021/22

[artsculturevienna]

Ferdinand LAUFBERGER (1829-1881) “Das Blinde-Kuh-Spiel” (1865) “Blind Man’s Buff” (1865) Öl auf Leinwand / Oil on canvas Ausstellung / Exhibition “KLIMTS LEHRER” Jahre an der Kunstgewerbeschule “TEACHING KLIMT” Studies at the School of Arts and Crafts MAK WIEN / VIENNA - 2021/22

[artsculturevienna]

Ferdinand LAUFBERGER (1829-1881) "Porträt eines Mädchens" / "Portrait of a girl" (1880) Kreide, weiß gehöht / Chalk heightened with white ALBERTINA WIEN / VIENNA Ausstellung / Exhibition "KLIMTS LEHRER" Jahre an der Kunstgewerbeschule "TEACHING KLIMT" Studies at the School of Arts and Crafts MAK WIEN / VIENNA - 2021/22

[artsculturevienna]

Ferdinand LAUFBERGER (1829-1881) “Entwurf für das Mosaik von Christus als Pantokrator am Grabmahl von Valentin Teirich” (1876) “Design for the mosaic of Christ as Pantocrator on the tomb of Valentin Teirich” (1876) Öl auf Leinwand / Oil on canvas Leihgabe Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien, Kunstsammlung und Archiv Loan from University of Applied Arts Vienna, Collection and Archive Ausstellung / Exhibition “KLIMTS LEHRER” Jahre an der Kunstgewerbeschule “TEACHING KLIMT” Studies at the School of Arts and Crafts MAK WIEN / VIENNA - 2021/22