One of the most widely anticipated events of Liverpool’s 2008 capital of culture year was the Gustav Klimt exhibition at the Tate gallery. On the ground floor is a reconstruction of the Beethoven Frieze from the secession building in Vienna. The contrast of the highly decorated gold on the rough unfinished concrete is striking in its delicateness. It reminded me of Bernardaud’s gold leaf and silver leaf dinnerware, the roughness of the gold leaf contrasting against the highly polished smoothness of the porcelain.  In fact, a few of Bernardaud’s luxurious new designs remind me of Klimt with their brightly coloured circles paired with lavish gold and silver metallics.

It is clear throughout the exhibition that Klimt was incredibly accomplished at painting life like representations. However, he appeared most comfortable when his paintings took a turn to fantasy. For a designer, what’s most exciting is what lies behind the figures in his paintings. He has a gift for patterns and colours. He could almost be described as a decorator. Sections of the backgrounds could stand on their own as fabrics and wallpapers. 100 years after it was first exhibited his stylised flowers are on trend today.  Similar flowers are seen on fabrics today on the catwalk and in the high street. Stella McCartney’s floral print dress comes to mind.

In addition to Klimt’s paintings the exhibition focused on the larger Vienna Secession group and the interaction between art, architecture, and interiors that it represented. As tableware designers we take direction from trends, not just in tableware but also fashion, interiors, and art. Dinnerware isn’t displayed by itself on a wall, but is part of people’s lifestyle.

The exhibit also gives us a look at the table with a beautiful set of flatware that looks strikingly modern by today’s standards and an equally contemporary silver coffee set. Only when you see old photographs of it being used do you realise how ahead of its time Klimt and the Vienna Secession must have been.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 1st, 2008 at 5:35 am and is filed under Colours, Inspiration, Trends. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.