Tragedy

Fourteen years after the publisher Martin Gerlach gave him his first major opportunity by commissioning designs for his Allegories and Emblems pieces, he returned to Klimt for a second set of designs that were produced between 1895 and 1897. A comparison between Fable of 1883 and Tragedy of 1897, this work highlights the remarkable transformation that had taken place in Klimt’s work. The two designs could be by quite different artists. The sinister beauty of the tragic muse Melpomene, shows Klimt’s interest in the Belgian Symbolist Fernand Khnopff, then at the height of his fame. The gilded collar that appears to sever Melpomene’s head from her body and which would become such a feature of Klimt’s depiction of women over the next few years, was also originally derived from Khnopff.