Symbolism & Aestheticism · 1907

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I

Gustav Klimt 1862–1918

Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (1907) by Gustav Klimt. Its palette is led by golden umber (#7d6748, 45%) and golden umber (#a98a58, 28%), with accents of charcoal. Overall the canvas is light, moderately saturated and warm.

Color note

In his “golden phase” Klimt applied real gold leaf, inspired by the Byzantine mosaics he saw in Ravenna in 1903. The Kiss and the portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer are its best-known works.

Palette

#7d6748 MG 183 golden umber 45.3% of canvas
#a98a58 MG 182 golden umber 28.2% of canvas
#c3a164 MG 032 light orange amber 13.5% of canvas
#535341 MG 176 taupe 10.7% of canvas
#28211e MG 222 charcoal 2.3% of canvas

Color families

Brown 68%, Yellow 26%, Green 2%, Gray 2%, Black 1%

Measurements

Lightness: 0.58
Contrast: 0.33
Vividness: 0.059
Warmth: +1.00
Complexity: 136 cells
Hue range: 0.11
Focus: 0.01

Composition

53% of the visual weight is in the right half, 52% in the upper half. Symmetry 0.62 (how closely its shapes and edges mirror each other). 17% of the canvas is calm space. Half of the detail sits in 32% of the canvas. Measured from the image, not a rule the painter followed.

Details

Date: 1907
Medium: Oil and gold and silver and gold leaf on canvas
Size: 138.0 × 162.0 cm
Genre: portrait
Collection: Neue Galerie, New York City

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