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October 08, 2007
Vienna
If you’ve never been to Vienna you may be forgiven for not knowing that Gustav Klimt was from there.
If you have been to Vienna and still don’t know, you must have been walking round with your eyes wide shut. For, like Howarth and the Bronte’s, Klimt is all over Vienna like a rash. Or rather all over Vienna’s gift shops, cafes, restaurants, advertising campaigns, public transport systems and pretty well every flat space available.
And what painting by Herr Klimt is foremost in the City Fathers’ bid for posterity?
Der Kuss of course.
Mind you they seldom reproduce the entire painting:
(and this isn't all of it either)
Klimt, like his protégé Egon Schiele, was wont to be rather racy at times, but for some reason these pictures never see their way onto the tea-towels.
There are two places in Vienna not saturated with Klimtobelia. One is the Alt Wien coffee house, a wonderful dark dive, full of new posters and old pictures, where moustachioed middle-aged men in long white aprons and serious expressions serve strong coffee.
And the other is the Naschmarkt a permanent outdoor fruit and vegetable market. The translation is Nibble Market because all the stall-holders slice up their produce and offer it to you as you walk through. As well as incredible fruit and vegetables there are nuts and spices and bread and cheeses. So if you plan your walk carefully you can nibble your way through just about any meal of the day. Or you can just sit in a café and stare at the wealth of stuff on sale.
clarification of the foregoing: a Coffee House, or more correctly I suppose Kaffeehaus, has the aforementioned men in long white aprons, is usually large, dimly lit often with huge chandeliers. A Café is, well, just that, small, modern, bright, quick and staffed mainly by young people who don't shave in the morning.
Posted by john at October 8, 2007 05:12 PM
Comments
I've never seen a photo of Klimt before and he looked just like I expected him to. Which people rarely do, do they?
The Coffee House looks a good place to be.
Posted by: Daphne at October 8, 2007 07:20 PM