Gustav Klimt.

THE BEETHOVEN FRIEZE

1902

" Beethoven Frieze "- a series of paintings by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt, dedicated to the composer Ludwig van Beethoven. Paintings ,made in the form of architectural frieze , were shown for the first time as a part of "Association of Artists Vienna Secession" XIV exhibition  in 1902. The theme of the frieze is based on Richard Wagner's interpretation of the 9th Symphony by Ludwig van Beethoven.

FIRST LONG SIDE WALL

Floating Genii  The yearning for happiness (symbolized by the floating female figures of the first panel).

Suffering Humanity, Knight in Shining ArmorSuffering humanity (kneeling couple and girl standing behind them): their pleas to the knight in shining armor (the man in golden armor with a sword) as the external driving force, compassion and ambition (the female figures behind the knight) as internal motivation moving him to take up the fight for happiness.

NARROW WALL

The Hostile Forces

The hostile forces. The giant Typhoeus, against whom even the gods battle in vain (the monster with mother-of-pearl eyes extending across the entire front wall with his blue wings and snake-like appendages); his daughters, the three gorgons (the three women standing to the left of Typhoeus). Sickness, madness, death (the mask-like female heads above the gorgon heads).

Lasciviousness, Wantonness, IntemperanceLasciviousness, wantonness, intemperance (the group of three women to the right of Typhoeus. Intemperance wears a conspicuously ornamented blue skirt with applications of mother-of-pearl, bronze rings, etc.). Gnawing grief (the woman cowering on the right in the picture). The yearnings and desires of humankind fly past them.

SECOND LONG WALL

PoetryThe yearning for happiness finds appeasement in poetry (the female figure with the lyre). An empty segment in the frieze follows. This is where broad openings in the wall revealed a view of the Beethoven stature in the 1902 exhibition.

Floating Genii

The Arts, Choir of Angels, and Embracing Couple 

The ArtsThe arts lead us into an ideal realm, the only place where we can find pure joy, pure happiness, pure love (the five women, of which the upper three point to the last scene illustrating Schiller's Ode to Joy).

Choir of AngelsChoir of angels in paradise. "Joy, thou gleaming spark divine. This kiss to the whole world!" (concluding scene with women's choir and embracing couple).

..".Frieze"  occupies  three walls and is about 34 meters length .

The left composition  "Yearning for Happiness", represented the golden knight, who is going against the forces of evil, with an accompany by two female figures ,symbolizing the victory (Glory) with a wreath of the winner and Compassion.

The central composition "Hostile forces"- is a force of evil. It consists of the several parts: Tryphon is the central huge figure , three Gorgons are  to his left , symbolizing sickness, madness and death, and female figures symbolizing lust, intemperance and lust are to his right  . The lonely figure of a woman, symbolizing the gnawing anguish of humanity is apart from them .

Composition on the right wall - "Art, Chorus of Angels Paradise " also consists of several parts: figures symbolizing joy and wonderful Spark of God

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