Art Appreciation II – Klimt & the Golden Age of Vienna

Tutor: Tim Stimson

Klimt, as the leader of the Vienna Secession, began his career adorning the new buildings of the Ringstrasse, yet at the height of his fame his works became increasingly controversial, especially his images of the Femme Fatale; yet he also painted sensitive
landscapes and portraits, and complex allegories. Above all his works are gloriously decorative and exuberant.

This course locates Klimt within the social milieu of Vienna and investigates his idiosyncratic art and life. Tim’s involvement in art began with the practical. For a number of years he was a professional painter/ceramicist in Scotland and Wales, before returning to university to study literature and the history of art, then training to teach adults.

For the last 30 years he has been a freelance cultural/art historian, specialising in 17th and 19th century art and society. He now lectures for the University of Cambridge, the WEA, the Art Fund and The Arts Society (previously NADFAS), and presents residential study courses in Britain and Europe. Tim has now completed two lecture tours of Australia, the last in 2016, and presented a lecture for Hull City of Culture 2017 on T E Ferens, patron of Hull’s newly refurbished gallery.