When You Can See the Dimension of Time

It is not uncommon that we read thousands of years of history in one stanza of Childe Harold's Pilgrimage; it's mind-blowing how the concept of time can expand and shrink just like that, and sometimes a few simple words can bring back memories of centuries past, and stories from hinges of history brought to tears, people of all time. Byron's vast knowledge of history made his poetry incomparably rich, with his words floating through time and space, his work pulls together pieces of the wildest imagination. 

Poetry brings to our attention the connection between events in time in a linear fashion. We read through them word by word, line by line and legend of extraordinary individuals create indescribable images in our minds. It's sort of an abstract concept at least, for we couldn't put a frame around it, but rather brew the kaleidoscopic vision in the caldron of our consciousness. 

Visual artists sometimes have the ability to bring us back on our feet, and with their brushes, create one after another aha moments and make us say: indeed this is how the imagination of all collides. 

Gustav Klimt, one of my favourite painters of all time, had been labeled as a symbolic painter. I'd rather think of it as his ability to make the parallel elements apparent between different characteristics in his paintings. The female figures being one of the prominent themes, Klimt's extravagant splashes of gold and generously spread decorative strokes earned his paintings the title "frank eroticism". Personally I don't quite agree with that, for the study of female bodies has been an unavoidable theme in all, maybe save few misfits in the art world, categories of western art. Artists admire perfect proportions and the smooth curves of a female figure, painting them over and over again regardless of their styles or methods. Klimt for one, had been quite versatile, painting traditional realistic figures with a twist in the composition as well as abstract shapes during his "golden phase": those art nouveau paintings drove art connoisseurs wild, and they put those shimmering pieces in living rooms, on furniture, scarves, jewelries, etc. However, Klimt's most admirable accomplishments lies in his symbolic compositions. Being a member of the distinguished Vienna Succession movement, he was, among the like minded fellow artists, aiming to create a style that entirely stands alone from previous influences. 

Allegory of Sculpture

Allegory of Sculpture, completed roughly in 1889, was one of Klimt's best known portraits. Within one canvas, you see layers of sculptures from different periods and cultures. The artist is doing the job of a curator as he was creating this piece, thus creating an early manifestation of augmented reality. It's a masterpiece of a skilled painting, but the most extraordinary character of this painting lies in the fact that there's an entirely different kind of dimension presented in front of us. 

From background to foreground, you can tell vaguely the sculpture in the style of ancient Greek, a traditional bust of Athena with distinguishable facial features; in front of that is another sculpture of Athena in her shiniest armour and glorious helmet, holding her sceptor (although unseen from the painting). Before that, a modern sculpture of a seated female figure, led by a beautiful water colour painting of a female with Egyptian accessories (and some of Klimt's favourite circular motifs in her hair).  The foreground figure is standing on a platform, holding a posture as though she's a sculpture. It's almost as if she's indeed a sculpture yet turning into life by the touch of the artist. It's happened before, if you're familiar with Pygmalion's story. 

There are chunks of empty spaces in the painting, something you wouldn't see in the more traditional pieces. Modern artists have been exploring what they can do within the limitation of a frame, and Klimt here, has indubitably created a sense of infinity through leaving blank the spaces in between the present and the past, the foreground and the background. One thing is certain: Allegory of Sculpture is not a realistic presentation of still life, but a visualized flow of thoughts, a poetry in the form of a picture.