2008 Woodie Awards
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The Scene
Textile Museum's Klimt exhibit underwhelms
By Kristen Powell on 8/30/07
Walking down S Street near Embassy Row, shouts of "Free Burma!" lure potential visitors toward the Textile Museum. Located next to the embassy of the Union of Myanmar, the impressive exterior of the John Russell Pope-designed building looks promising. Unfortunately, the protesters are likely to be the most exciting part of any trip to this museum.
The museum currently has only two exhibits open, the Activity Gallery and Textiles of Klimt's Vienna, though two more are set to open at the end of September.
The Textiles of Klimt's Vienna is the main draw at the museum right now. The title of the exhibit is deceptive. Visitors would expect the work of famous Art Nouveau painter Gustav Klimt to be somehow incorporated into the exhibit.
Klimt, known for the iconic painting "The Kiss," often seen on posters, magnets and T-shirts, frequently incorporated complex patterns into his works. It would be expected that somehow the exhibit would show similarities in style between these patterns and the patterns in the textiles, or at least detail how Klimt's life intertwined with the manufacturers' of the fabrics showcased. In reality, Klimt was barely referenced, instead used as a marker of a time period.
Textiles of the Vienna Secession would have been a more accurate name for the exhibit. The Wiener Werstätte, an arts-and-crafts offshoot of the movement, created the textiles on display. Klimt was president of the Secession, and those who created the textiles displayed were associated with the movement as well, but the exhibit failed to show any real connection between the two. In reality, Klimt was no longer even a part of the movement by the time the Wiener Werkstätte started creating fabric in 1905.
The fabrics in the exhibition were cheapened by the association with Klimt. It seemed as if the museum felt that the textiles it had could only be made significant by associating them with a well-known artist. This was unfair to the work that was on display. The work of the Vienna Secession is important on its own, outside of its connection with Klimt. Its effort to blur the lines between high and low art was truly influential.
The museum currently has only two exhibits open, the Activity Gallery and Textiles of Klimt's Vienna, though two more are set to open at the end of September.
The Textiles of Klimt's Vienna is the main draw at the museum right now. The title of the exhibit is deceptive. Visitors would expect the work of famous Art Nouveau painter Gustav Klimt to be somehow incorporated into the exhibit.
Klimt, known for the iconic painting "The Kiss," often seen on posters, magnets and T-shirts, frequently incorporated complex patterns into his works. It would be expected that somehow the exhibit would show similarities in style between these patterns and the patterns in the textiles, or at least detail how Klimt's life intertwined with the manufacturers' of the fabrics showcased. In reality, Klimt was barely referenced, instead used as a marker of a time period.
Textiles of the Vienna Secession would have been a more accurate name for the exhibit. The Wiener Werstätte, an arts-and-crafts offshoot of the movement, created the textiles on display. Klimt was president of the Secession, and those who created the textiles displayed were associated with the movement as well, but the exhibit failed to show any real connection between the two. In reality, Klimt was no longer even a part of the movement by the time the Wiener Werkstätte started creating fabric in 1905.
The fabrics in the exhibition were cheapened by the association with Klimt. It seemed as if the museum felt that the textiles it had could only be made significant by associating them with a well-known artist. This was unfair to the work that was on display. The work of the Vienna Secession is important on its own, outside of its connection with Klimt. Its effort to blur the lines between high and low art was truly influential.
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