Design for a theater curtain 1883

Gustav Klimt made this design for a theater curtain using pencil and watercolor on paper. The image contains a whirlwind of brushwork and graphite lines, with ornament cascading around the edges. Klimt was deeply involved in the crafts movement in Vienna, which sought to elevate handwork to the level of fine art. This drawing is of course only a plan, it is not the thing itself. But it gives us some sense of how he conceived of theatrical space: as a frame for human action, literally and figuratively. The amount of hand-work in the design, including the highly articulated borders, suggests the investment of time and care that would have gone into the construction of a full-scale curtain. In Klimt’s hands, this kind of ornamental work becomes something more than mere decoration. It is an environment, in which both actors and viewers can lose themselves. The drawing here offers a glimpse behind that curtain, a hint of what is to come.