A pregnant woman bows her head and closes her eyes, as if praying for the safety of her child. Peeping out from behind her stomach is a death’s head, a looming sign of the danger she faces. At her feet, three women with lowered heads raise their hands, presumably also in prayer—although their solemnity might also imply mourning, as if they foresaw the child’s fate. Why, then, the painting’s title? Klimt himself called this work Vision, although he had titled an earlier, related painting of a pregnant woman Hope. By association with the earlier work, this one has become known as Hope, II.
Klimt was among the many European artists of his time who were inspired by cultural traditions from outside their own milieu. He lived in Vienna, a crossroads of East and West, and he drew on sources such as Byzantine art, Mycenaean metalwork, Persian rugs and miniatures, the mosaics of the Ravenna churches, and Japanese screens. In this painting, the woman’s gold-patterned robe—drawn flat, as clothing is in Russian icons, although her flesh is rounded and dimensional—has an extraordinary decorative beauty. Here birth, death, and the sensuality of the living exist side by side, suspended in equilibrium.
Publication excerpt from MoMA Highlights: 375 Works from The Museum of Modern Art, New York (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2019)
Although images of women and children are frequent in the history of art, depictions of pregnancy are rare. In Hope, II a woman with a skull nestled into her gown lowers her head toward her swelling belly. Below, three women also bow their heads in prayer or in mourning. Ornate decoration nearly overwhelms the painting’s surface. Klimt was committed to craftwork, and he was among the many artists of his time who combined archaic traditions—here Byzantine gold-leaf painting—with a modern psychological subject. Klimt lived and worked in turn-of-the-century Vienna, home to Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis; the artist’s preoccupation with formative drives like sex and death paralleled Freud’s explorations of the psyche.
Gallery label from 2019
Mwanamke mjamzito anainama kichwa chake na kufunga macho yake, kana kwamba anaomba usalama wa mtoto wake. Kichwa cha kifo kinatoka nyuma ya tumbo lake, ishara ya hatari anayokabili. Chini ya miguu yake, wanawake watatu wenye vichwa vilivyoinuliwa huinua mikono yao, labda pia katika sala - ingawa heshima yao inaweza pia kuashiria maombolezo, kana kwamba waliona kimbele hatima ya mtoto. Basi, kwa nini kichwa cha mchoro huo? Klimt mwenyewe aliita kazi hii Maono, ingawa alikuwa ameita mchoro wa awali, unaohusiana na mwanamke mjamzito Matumaini. Kwa kuhusishwa na kazi ya awali, hii imejulikana kuwa Tumaini, II. Klimt alikuwa miongoni mwa wasanii wengi wa Ulaya wa wakati wake ambao walichochewa na mapokeo ya kitamaduni kutoka nje ya mazingira yao wenyewe. Aliishi Vienna, makutano ya Mashariki na Magharibi, na alitumia vyanzo kama vile sanaa ya Byzantium, kazi za chuma za Mycenaean, mazulia na michoro ya Kiajemi, mosaics za makanisa ya Ravenna, na skrini za Kijapani. Katika mchoro huu, mavazi ya mwanamke yenye michoro ya dhahabu - yaliyochorwa kwa usawa, kama mavazi katika picha za Kirusi, ingawa nyama yake ni ya mviringo na ya vipimo - ina uzuri wa kipekee wa mapambo. Hapa kuzaliwa, kifo, na hisia za walio hai zipo kando-kando, zikiwa ziko katika usawaziko. "Kutoka kwa ""MoMA Highlights: 375 Works from The Museum of Modern Art, New York"" (New York: The Museum of Modern Art, 2019) ""Hata kama picha za wanawake na watoto ni za kawaida katika historia ya sanaa, picha za ujauzito ni nadra." Katika Hope II, mwanamke mwenye fuvu la kichwa ndani ya vazi lake anainua kichwa chake kuelekea tumbo lake lililovimba. Chini, wanawake watatu pia hupiga vichwa vyao katika sala au katika maombolezo. Mapambo yenye mapambo mengi yanamzunguka karibu uso wa mchoro huo. Klimt alikuwa amejitolea kwa kazi za mikono, na alikuwa miongoni mwa wasanii wengi wa wakati wake ambao walichanganya mila za kale - hapa uchoraji wa majani ya dhahabu ya Byzantine - na mada ya kisasa ya kisaikolojia. Klimt aliishi na kufanya kazi katika Vienna ya karne ya XNUMX, nyumbani kwa Sigmund Freud, baba wa psychoanalysis; wasiwasi wa msanii na gari la kuunda kama ngono na kifo ulifanana na uchunguzi wa Freud wa psyche. Lebo ya maonyesho ya 2019