Austrian symbolist painter Gustav Klimt had lived from 1862 to 1918 and had become one of the founding members of Wiener Sezession, otherwise known as Vienna Secession in 1897. Klimt had an air of controversy around him due to his favoritism of the female body as his main subjects. His main genre of painting is closer to eroticism, sexualization of the female body, while some believe that his paintings were borderline pornographic.
This painting commissioned by the University of Vienna, titled Medicine, was amongst the paintings facing controversy. As you can imagine, the depiction of the female nude fully displayed in what’s considered a public place would cause censors to question the ideals behind Klimt’s painting. In my own opinion, I don’t see any strong evidence of eroticism in this painting. While I don’t question that the eye is pulled the nude female subject but upon closer inspection, I see that there are other nude subjects that are not only female but male. It’s a very interesting piece and offers much to the potential viewer simply due to the complexity of it.
Giant Art 