The Enduring Necessity of Reaffirming of Klimt's Artistic Principles and Commitments

In 1897 and 1898, Klimt was twice elected president of the Secession, although at the end of 1899 the Secessionists narrowly rejected his candidacy. Indeed, Klimt and his group ultimately chose to leave the Secession in 1905. In the meantime, in 1902, amid the growing controversy over his new and increasingly contentious ideas, it appears that he felt an urgent need to reaffirm his goals and artistic direction. His Beethoven Frieze (1902), The Golden Knight (1903), and Stoclet Frieze (1905–1911) partly fulfilled this task. Aside from the sheer size of the two friezes, the richness of all three works’ formal language and their importance for understanding Klimt's oeuvre is hard to overestimate. Stoclet Frieze also serves as the continuation and culmination of Klimt's ‘ode to the tendril’ (guided by Riegl's writing). Importantly, the chapter suggests that, working on his mosaics, the artist drew inspiration from another powerful yet previously unidentified source: a church in Rome.