Zoom Into Klimt's 'Farmhouse in Upper Austria'

Klimt made use of a visual technique strikingly reminiscent of French pointillism especially for his landscapes. In the years around 1900, French and Belgian pointillist works were regularly exhibited in the Vienna Secession.

Under these influences, Klimt developed a highly individual variant of pointillism. In contrast to the French and Belgian artists, Klimt did not dissolve all motifs in a uniform mesh of spots of color. He only applied the pointillist technique very selectively.

During his stay on the Attersee in the summer of 1911, Klimt discovered a charming old wooden farmhouse in Buchberg. He painted the flower meadow and fruit trees around the house in this pointillist style, but depicted the house itself with clear surfaces and contours.

The gray-purple color of the wooden wall of the house is striking, and subtly complements the multi-colored greens of the meadow and trees. The dense color effect is also due to the image's composition. The fruit trees cover much of the house and the view of the sky.

Despite the spatial distance between the individual motifs, a flat and two-dimensional pattern emerges. This is created by the deliberate absence of shadows and the ornamental, mosaic-like flat design. Klimt stylizes the landscape into a fully artificial structure.