Emilie Flöge and the Lady in Gold

In my last two posts, Beholding Beauty and Beads and Buttons and Books I wrote about our trip to Vienna (Austria). This post is also about our visit to Vienna, when we went to the Belvedere to see the work of Gustav Klimt - simply a must if you like the painters of the Vienna Secession. His most well-known painting The Kiss (The Lovers) and Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I (The Woman in Gold) are admired by people from around the world.

Design by Emilie Louise Flöge

But not everybody is acquainted with Emilie Louise Flöge, who designed and made the dress for The Woman in Gold and for many other society ladies who were painted by Klimt! It is an extraordinary tale. Read about the multitalented Flöge sisters, how they became successful business women in the haute couture fashion world, how Emilie Flöge met Gustav Klimt and became his life companion, his muse and inspiration, yet stayed more or less behind the scenes and didn't live to see recognition for her work as she rightly should have.

A portrait of Emilie Flöge by Gustav Klimt was as ahead of the times as Emilie Flöge was herself:
"It is perhaps no wonder that Klimt's Portrait of Emilie Floge, painted in 1902, was the first to present its subject as a bejeweled icon, a gilded beauty whose decorative trappings constitute a metaphorical chastity belt. Directly anticipating the "gold" portraits of 1906-1907, the picture was exceedingly radical for its day, and perhaps for this reason neither Emilie nor her family liked it."

Emilie Flöge - painted by Gustav Klimt

Depending on where they live, designers these days are much less limited in their range of expressions. This is especially true in the field of fashion, including all types of textile crafts. I strongly believe that if you teach a child how to knit, you give that child a life-long gift of joy. The success of the textile crafts site Ravelry.com supports this view, so many adult members fondly remember the person who taught them to knit or engage in other textile crafts.

 A few more impressions of our trip to Vienna:

This store is called: "Viennese Culture"

At the Naschmarkt: Herbs and Spices anyone?

All fresh and tasty - fruit and vegetables offered at the Naschmarkt

A wide choice of vinegar!

See and read more on Vienna in these posts Beads and Buttons and Books and Beholding Beauty