Buchenwald, 1890.
Artists as a group are intertwined with one another, serving as inspiration for each other--this idea is depicted by the relationship between painter Gustav Klimt and poet Jorie Graham.
After looking at a collection of Klimt's work, I noticed each painting has a sensual and somewhat mysterious feel to it. Klimt seemed to inspired by music as well, as he named one of his paintings "Music" and another "Schubert at the Piano." Romance and sex seem to have served as inspiration for Klimt as well, as one of his most famous paintings, "The Kiss", depicts a man and woman locked in a romantic embrace, highlighted with vibrant colors. I was really moved by Klimt's work. Paintings, for me, have always been somewhat difficult to interpret--especially with the abstract artists. The colors and images Klimt uses really speak to me and I really enjoy looking at his artwork.
Graham's "Two Paintings by Gustav Klimt" discusses Klimt's paintings from a perspective as if the poet stepped into the painting herself. Buchenwald 1890, the painting above, is very different from the style I observed in Klimt's other collection of paintings. This makes me wonder why Graham chose this painting, as it has a much darker tone and a different focus. Graham looks at the trees as "something to lean on/that won't give way" (Graham 26-27). One of my favorite lines of the poem is "for right and wrong like pools/of shadow/and light you can step in/and out of/crossing this yellow beech forest". It is almost like Graham is using the forest as a metaphor for life and death, right and wrong. Graham goes on to discuss an unfinished painting discovered in Klimt's studio after his death. It depicted a "pornographic" image of a woman who was beginning to be covered by black fabric, with a tired smile. I am curious as to why Graham chose to discuss these two paintings, perhaps to contrast the sturdiness of the reliable beech trees and the uncertainty of sex and romance? I am still unsure.
Citations:
"The Klimt Collection". gustavklimtcollection.com. 2009. July 22, 2011. http://www.gustavklimtcollection.com/pages/main.html
"Two Paintings by Gustav Klimt". poetryfoundation.org. 2011. July 22, 2011. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/241994
The idea of contrasting uncertainty and reliability in nature is a very interesting way of looking at this poem. This uncertainty in the wilderness transfers over into the uncertainty in human life, which is also natural.
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