They are inspired by the work of the famous painter Klimt. You probably know him, if not by his name, at least by his works. We find reproductions of his paintings everywhere, on many supports, such as posters, mugs, mouse pads and what not, “The kiss” being undoubtedly his most famous painting. Its very decorative universe has conquered hearts.

Klimt’s Style

The reason for its success lies, in my opinion, in the beauty of its universe. A very feminine, poetic universe that seems to come out of a dream. His universal subjects, such as joy, youth, love or death, speak to the greatest number.

I have admired his world for a long time. As a teenager studying graphic arts, I often had my nose buried in art books of all kinds, and inevitably, one day, at the turn of a page, I met Klimt. Its very sensual universe, the richness of its patterns and the magic of its gilding enchanted me. The graceful feminine is an element that I have found in my own drawings since I was very young. Maybe that’s what appealed to me about this artist in the first place.

At Klimt, the honor is with women. His portraits or allegories, not always idealized, but always graceful. His subjects of mythological or allegorical inspiration join my love of legends and tales. In his portraits of women, I find a few fairies, a few witches, certain monstrous creatures and other enchantresses. These characters let the imagination invent stories and a life for each of these women. They become folktale beings, which amaze me so much.

Her stylized flowers, her mixtures of colors and interlocking patterns create a most original pavement, wrapping her feminine beings in an unreal veil.

Also, I who am not really interested in landscapes in general, I appreciate those of Klimt for their decorative side. They are often painted on square canvases, a bit like Seurat, with an extremely high horizon, where we see as much a vibrant geometric composition as a forest.

For the moment, Klimt’s works have inspired me with a few brooches, but surely there will be other jewels of the same ilk to my credit in the not so distant future And many other little treasures… Keep an eye out! ^^

Brief history of Klimt

For the context, Klimt begins his painting around 1880. He is an artist of the Viennese Secession. He braved the straitjacket of the rules and the established codes of painting of his time, which would of course cause him setbacks. His work “Philosophy”, planned for the ceiling of the hall of the University of Vienna, was then considered as a provocation to libertinage and an attack on good morals. He is criticized for his overly erotic paintings, and even wonders about his mental health. Another place, other customs, he received a gold medal in 1900 at the Universal Exhibition in Paris for this same work. It will later be destroyed by the Nazis (speaking of Nazis and Klimt, I recommend the movie “Woman in Gold” with Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds, if you haven’t seen it).

Klimt had to give up seeing his works at university, but he kept the integrity of his style and his vision.

The painter visits Italy and studies the heavily ornamented gold Byzantine mosaics of the Basilica of Saint Vidal in Ravenna. It is a revelation for the artist. His taste for hard work has just been born. In Paris, he discovers the work of Toulouse-Lautrec, Gauguin, Bonnard and Matisse who will also greatly influence him.

The Beethoven frieze (which is a representation of Beethoven’s ninth symphony, hence its name) was supposed to be on temporary display for an exhibition by the Viennese secessionists, but it was bought and kept, and it is still there for us. dazzle. This says a lot about the success of his work, which I am sure will continue for decades to come.

Inspired by traditional Russian nesting dolls, they bring a touch of light to the sad days of the cold season. But do you know the story of these Russian dolls?

The Russian Doll, is perhaps the best known symbol of Russia in the world. We also sometimes speak of a nesting doll, in reference to the puppet of the Mother Gigogne, which represents a tall and strong woman surrounded by children. In Russia, the Russian Doll is believed to symbolize the traditional values of Russian society: respect for the elderly, extended family unity, fertility and abundance, and the search for truth and meaning. In fact, the idea that truth is hidden in many layers of meaning is a recurring motif in Russian folk tales. In one such tale, a character named Ivan searches for a needle representing the death of an evil character. The needle is in an egg, the egg is in a duck, the duck is in a hare, the hare is in a box, and the box is buried under an oak tree. Thus, the Russian Doll, with its many layers hidden within the larger doll, is a perfect Russian symbol for Russian popular culture.

However, this popular toy has its origins in China. Created for storage and decorative purposes, the Chinese invented the nesting of wooden boxes inside each other in the year 1000. The concept consisted of a large wooden box which, when opened, contained a box wooden box almost identical, but smaller, and inside this smaller box, another still smaller box, and so on. This concept then evolved from nesting boxes to nesting dolls, serving as the basis for the world’s first nesting dolls.

This approach quickly migrated to Japan, where the idea was applied to create the wooden dolls of their own deities. The Shichi-Fukujin or seven lucky gods – believed to bring good luck in Japanese mythology – were among the first to have wooden nesting dolls made in their image. The Japanese god of happiness and longevity, Fukurokuju, has the form of a wooden doll that can be taken apart and inside which are the six other gods.

However, the concept of nested objects was already present in Russia at the end of the 19th century, for Easter eggs: we can notably cite Fabergé’s first egg, dating from 1885, which contained a yolk, containing a hen, containing turn a ruby pendant and a miniature replica of the imperial crown.

Anyway, during a trip to Japan, the little nested doll caught the attention of a young woman, who brought her back to her country. This person is Elizaveta Mamontova. wife of the Russian patron Savva Mamontov. The “father” of matryoshka dolls is Sergei Maliutin, a popular craftsman working on the Abramtsevo estate belonging to the industrialist Savva Mamontov, where he would have seen the small Japanese dolls from which he was inspired.

Yet, including in Russia, matryoshka dolls are often mistakenly thought to be inherited from hundreds of years of Russian woodturning tradition. This doll, which quickly became very popular in Russia, immediately received a typical peasant first name, Matriona, whose diminutive is Matriochka. As early as 1900, this toy caused a sensation at the Universal Exhibition in Paris, where it won a bronze medal.

Later, The Space Conquest generates a whole host of cosmonaut dolls with helmets and diving suits, fitted into a rocket…

After the collapse of the USSR and the arrival of liberalism, matryoshka figures caricatures of politicians in place appeared. And today you can find dolls representing Lenin, Vladimir Putin or Barack Obama in souvenir shops in Moscow.

For some, the matryoshka has a more sacred dimension. Each of these seven figurines embodies a layer of subtle bodies and auras invisible to the naked eye.

It is the description of the body which superimposes seven thicknesses of life from the most trivial to the most ethereal. The challenge of each person is to reach the most subtle layer during his existence. There are seven shells:

1. Red represents the physical body. It is the color of blood and of life, therefore of vital energy. Its vibrations are insufficient to elevate oneself spiritually. If it infuses the force, in case of loss of energy of the Earth, the physical body weakens;
2. Orange symbolizes fertility;
3. Yellow corresponds to health and stability. It is also the color of the will;
4. Green helps to acquire mental strength and develops intuition. It is also the center of love;
5. The color purple enhances expression and communication with openness to others;
6. Blue is the color of higher abilities. It corresponds to creativity and understanding of the laws that govern the universe;
7. Purple corresponds to the ultimate stage. It distributes energies of all types in the body.

This symbolism is less marked today, but it remains the legacy of an ancient tradition from Asia. That said, Japanese, Chinese or Russian, these colorful dolls have not ceased to amaze young and old. And they continue to inspire me to offer you cute little brooches to chew on!