Mada primavesi biography graphic organizer
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She is unsmiling and she seems very mature and self-assured. The objects that he used to create this were inspired by Japanese art, such as the birds, fish and butterflies in the rug.
An additional change in approach to be found here is the switch to vertical portraiture, as also seen in his portrait of Serena Lederer.
Also noteworthy in this portrait is the abandonment of the asymmetrical, diagonally based portrait (see Portrait of Sonja Knips, Portrait of Fritza Riedler, and Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I). Klimt has returned to the vertical format and symmetry of his earlier works, such as the Portrait of Serena Lederer.
Mada Primavesi
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Klimt continues his elaborate female portraits with Mada Primavesi
Influences from Japanese art can be found in the bright portrait of Mada Primavesi, the daughter of financier Otto Primavesi.
This was another significant contact for Klimt who would be used for several family portraits (Klimt also painted Primavesi's wife Eugenia) and become the talk of the town in circles of high society.
Much of Klimt's other work had been dominated by elaborate backgrounds, patterned with floral design.
She was probably eight years old when Klimt started the painting.
As was common for Klimt, he made numerous sketches of Mäda, experimenting with pose, with costumes, and with background motifs. A series of preliminary pencil sketches, now in public and private collections, show that as the composition evolved, the artist experimented with alternative poses and background motifs.
The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Klimt had run out of enthusiasm for the heavily ornamented gold portraits of the years 1907 to 1909 and had turned for inspiration to his collection of Japanese prints and art books. Primavesi was a keen patron and supporter of art.
As early as 1912, Otto commissioned Klimt to paint his young daughter, Mada.
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Mäda Primavesi
Gustav Klimt
1912
Oil on canvas
The Metropolitan Museum of Art (64.148). Bright blossoms on the girl’s clothing and in the background evoke youth and delicacy. During the First World War he regularly invited artists, including Klimt, to stay at his country house.
Ultimately, he selected an open, painterly treatment that contrasts with the highly stylized designs adapted for the backgrounds of his fin-de-siècle portraits. Rather than filling the entire picture surface with pattern, he allowed the background to show through much more, enlivening it with motifs here and there. In the final version, Mäda is wearing a white dress ornamented with beaded flowers, which was created at Klimt's suggestion by his companion, the designer Emilie Flöge.
Mäda has a firm stance.
The portrait attests to the sophistication of Mäda’s parents, Otto and Eugenia, who were ardent patrons of Vienna’s cutting-edge artistic circles.
This painting was seized by the Nazis from Jenny Pulitzer Steiner in 1938 in Vienna and restituted to her in 1951.
Artwork Details
My name is Alison Hokanson and I work in the Department of European Paintings here at The Met.
This is a work by the Austrian painter, Gustav Klimt.
This was a return to his original style, having spent some time in the asymetrical format.
Portrait of Mada Primavesi, 1912 by Gustav Klimt
Mada Primavesi was the daughter of Otto Primavesi, who succeeded Fritz Waerndorfer as financier to the Vienna Workshop in 1914. Mäda is standing on a rug ornamented with natural motifs: flowers, birds, fish, even a dog.
Klimt also painted Primavesi's wife, Eugenia, between 1913 and 1914.
Mäda Primavesi (1903–2000)
Mäda Primavesi’s expression and bearing convey a remarkable degree of confidence for a nine-year-old girl. It's a portrait of a young girl named Mäda Primavesi.
Mäda was the daughter of the banker and industrialist Otto Primavesi and his wife, Eugenia, who were important patrons of cutting-edge art and design.