My Personal Pantheon

Since it seems a slow day for modern Pagan news I will take a moment to celebrate the birthday of a historical figure who has had a huge influence on my life.

Gustav Klimt. Klimt was an Austrian artist active in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He was a founder of the Vienna Secession, a movement of artists who helped introduce modern art and new ideas of presentation to a stuffy and traditionalistic Austria. He was a mentor and supporter to both Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka, two artists who helped shape European expressionism. But above all Klimt was a master painter who never fails to thrill me on a deeply spiritual level.

Gustav Klimt

Unlike some artists Klimt was very shy and reluctant to talk about his work, he felt that the work should speak for itself. He is famously quoted as saying that he wasn’t very interesting as a subject. In my teens through my twenties when I had aspirations of being a painter and recognized artist I looked to Klimt as my inspiration in how to act (I took more lessons on how to paint from his students however). Today I sport my only (currently) tattoo, which is a small doodle of a woman by Klimt surrounded by the motto of The Vienna Secession.

TO EVERY AGE ITS ART, TO EVERY ART ITS FREEDOM

While I may be more the writer, amateur scholar, and organizer than painter these days it is still the mantra of my heart. I hope that in some simpler time to come I can find the time and energy to focus only on creation for its own sake once more. Until then I will always give thanks to the gifts this spiritual ancestor has given me.

Death and Life

“Truth is like fire, and to speak the truth is to shine and burn” – Gustav Klimt

Tags: Neopaganism