The Bridge

The detailed portrayal of the Kunsthistorisches Museum located in Vienna, Austria is an art piece by Gustav Klimt that showcases the beautiful historic building in all its glory.

The artist constructs the beautiful painting to showcase the elegance of the museum as it is filled with spectators and artwork.

The timeless museum holds artwork displayed on the walls, alongside sculpted into the interior of the museum by an array of artists through decades.

The museum is an icon in Vienna, displaying all of the great works of the artist and his contemporaries; including Pablo Picasso, Egon Schiele and Edouard Manet. These artist's are masters in their own form; showcasing the skill and artistry through generations to come.

The artwork is based in an impeccable realist technique that illustrates all the detail of the museum throughout every component. Gustav Klimt had begun his art in illustrating realist pieces. Realism dominated Western Europe through the 19th century, as it was the closest form to photography at the time. Yet, before Klimt had transformed his work away from realism, the artist had painted The Bridge, showing his meticulous attention to detail that is engraved in his style.

The painting illustrates the view from the lower form of the Kunsthistorisches Museum. It is a beautiful thought that Gustav Klimt had travelled and based his work within the museum to paint the masterpiece.

Today the great hall does not solemnly hold the masterful work of generations, yet rather the stories of artists within the museum creating the artwork that is displayed there. The painting carries the similar style to Klimt's other realist painting Auditorium in the Old Burhtheatre, Vienna. The painting is an exquisite in-depth illustration of the Burgtheatre in Vienna, Austria.

Gustav Klimt's masterful detail in the portrayal of the theatre is astonishing, as he had painted 200 mini portraits of Vienna's high-class society. The endeavour took the artist a few months to illustrate the complex task in an oil on canvas rendition. The painting showcases the beautiful form in which realism was able to depict even meticulous detail.

The Bridge manifests the beautiful artistry showcased on the top of the ceiling within the museum. The ceiling is hand painted in biblical stories, unfolding a Roman and Greek influence.

Large columns and arches fill the ceiling adding complex structures. The ceiling is accentuated in bronze and gold details in a mosaic pattern, with a similar feel to Gustav Klimt's gold phase in which he painted his most famous artwork including The Kiss, Adele Bloch-Bauer and The Tree of Life.

Gustav Klimt's work was commonly symbolic, holding messages within his work of themes including life, death, love and happiness. The artist had cultivated the art scene as realism slowly came to a halt. Klimt was seen as a prominent figure through the Vienna Secession movement as artists and citizens desired a new form of art to prevail.

The artist had transcended on his own terms, turning his work from realism pieces as showcased within the painting to colourful impressionist, art nouveau and mosaic pieces. The artist's painting of the museum adds a glimpse of life into the old building, placed within. The painting holds not only a beautiful setting, but a revolutionary story.