Portraits of Gold

Happy winter everyone! To add even more sparkle and shine to the winter season, we learned all about the master of gold, Gustav Klimt! 

Gustav Klimt was born in Austria in 1862. When he was 14 years old, he went to school to study architectural painting. Gustav’s style while in school was very traditional, and much of his early work is very academic. A few years later, Gustav, Ernst, and their friend Franz worked very closely together to create many murals and paintings. Sadly, both his father and Ernst passed away in 1892. Their passing changed Gustav’s style forever. Gustav began to use more symbolism in his work, and heavily embellished his work with gold leaf. This time period of Gustav’s work became known as his Golden Phase, and during this time he produced two of his most famous works: The Kiss and Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer II. Even after he died in 1911, Gustav Klimt still captivates many people all over the world.

After learning a little about Gustav Klimt, each classroom received a work for their art shelves based on his Golden Phase. The kindergarteners drew patterns and motifs Gustav used in his art on scratch art paper. Then, students scratched away the white lines to turn the patterns gold. They were so excited to have a little piece of golden art of their very own!

The kindergarteners learned more about Gustav’s signature style. We talked about the repeating patterns he used in his work, and how he abstract shapes and lines represented the backgrounds and other aspects of the work. The children chose different shapes to collage onto their backgrounds, and then added line work with metallic paint pens. Then, they chose a person from a magazine and painted any clothes the person was wearing with gold paint. Finally, they added their person on top of their background and added even more shapes and patterns until they felt their art was complete. Each collaged portrait was so unique but all of them brought some much needed shimmer to our school!

For now, we are focusing on creating the pieces for the auction. Check back soon for updates on the auction art’s progress!