The Beaches

The Beaches

The Beaches illustrates the classic portraits of Gustav Klimt, as he enters his impressionist style that blends harsh details with bright colours across the canvas.

The painting illustrates two women as they stand next to one another and stare directly at the viewer. The woman on the right angles her body to the side, showcasing a side profile as she turns her head towards the artist. The muse is dressed is a bright orange dress that is loosely fitted and adds a multitude of volume to her form. Gustav Klimt's paints her body with quick brush strokes highlighting and contouring the woman's form. The colour of the dress is based on the tangerine orange, and accentuated through a lighter orange; accompanied by shadowed with a dark tone of orange. This array of shades manifests the bend of the fabric and the exact way in which it falls.

The orange dressed woman's neck is incredibly elongated, adding bend to her posture. The interesting element of the painting is the headdress the woman showcases on her small head. The woman's hair is covered in a headdress based on a milky white shade. The artist uses a realist technique to show the folds within the headdress that hugs the woman's head. The middle part of the headdress is covered in a multitude of decorations and shapes as small flowers swirl out of the piece in a patchwork. The decoration is lightly coloured in white toned shades of red and yellow.

To the left of the woman, another lady stands naked showcasing the details of her body in an upright position. The woman gently leans on the other's shoulder, with her head tilted behind the orange-dressed woman's head. The naked woman seems to be uncovering her body from a colourful fabric, as a piece of it still covers her hips. The fabric of her dress holds a mosaic pattern to it, covered in red and purple arches, and small patches of multi-coloured fabric. A teal coloured fabric unravels from the woman's hip, exposing her natural body.

Unlike Klimt's other realist paintings in which he meticulously showcases details on a woman's body; the artist does not illustrate these exactly within the portrait. The artist lightly paints the texture on the woman's body, revealing small breasts with bright red nipples. The weight on the woman's stomach is showcased as the paintbrush smooths out her curves. Klimt was not scared to depict public hair on his artwork, unlike many of his contemporaries who feared the criticism. The artist seized the element and painted it in detail, adding to the character of the woman. Within the painting, we can see Klimt lightly paint it against the woman's vagina as it is partly covered by the other woman's orange dress.

The background of the painting is covered in a bright pink colour, adding to the femininity at the painting in the 21st century, whereas in the 19th century the colour did not hold a gender. Yet, Klimt felt that the colour accentuated the aurora of the woman, surrounding them in the velvety textured wall. The colour holds a deep texture within it, as the artist used his brush in a cluster of directions to depict the rough wall.

An elaborate detail covers the wall in small drawings, adding more colours into the artwork. To the left of the piece, an interesting birdlike creature is depicted shaded in green, orange, and yellow feathers. This colour continues with the theme of bright hues, adding a deep dose of pigment. These bright drawings cover the remainder of the background while still manifesting the pink, through flowers, chickens, and other animals. The Beaches manifests luminous shades through Gustav Klimt's artwork, transitioning from monotone realist paintings to eye capturing artwork.