Klimt's Ria Munk On Her Deathbed

Klimt completed the first deathbed portrait of Ria Munk in 1912. As the picture shows a young woman is lying peacefully on her deathbed and surrounded with some white and red carnations. Her long flower flows down over her upper body. Her face is as pale as the pillow, yet retaining a faint flushing of pale rose over her cheeks. Her mouth slightly parted as if she draws a breath and dreams. This almost soporific peace entirely conceals the violence with which Ria’s life ended. This picture is all about the undeniable beauty of the suicidal woman from the Viennese upper class. The realistic representation of her fine features is in stark contrast to the details of her chest, the bed, and the background of the canvas. It seems that Klimt was

The church in Hamlet refuses to offer a proper burial to Ophelia on the presumption that she committed suicide. To some extent, both Ophelia and Ria Munk committed suicide for their lover, even though the death of Ophelia is in dispute. This might be one of the possible reasons why Gustav Klimt imitated the composition of Sir John Everett Millais’ Ophelia. In Klimt’s Ria Munk on Her Deathbed, the viewer will wonder whether Klimt intended to include carnations as the flowers to adorn the deathbed of his subject as John Everett Millais did in his Ophelia. A popular choice for remembrance flowers then as now, white carnations indicate pure love and innocence, while red carnations symbolize admiration and pink carnations connote notions of affection and remembrance. However, it is unknown that whether these flowers were chosen by Klimt deliberately to evoke these emotions and convey these indications, even though the metaphorical connection between women and flowers was a popular subject at that

The second portrait offers an entirely new interpretation of color and form. A bare-breasted young woman is placed in the front of a stage-like oriental wall. Her cheeks have a faint rose tinge to them. The elongated horizontal shape of her eyes gives a distinctly Asian look. The looming tinge of light blue on her face and neck indicates her death. Her wildly colorful patterned dress is exuberant, almost garish, and similarly mirrors the surrounding elements of the painting, particularly the floral arrangements that frame her. Her robe, hangs open seductively, and she stills full frontal toward the viewer but looks away wistfully, giving the impression that she is confident enough to project an aura of aloof eroticism and sexuality, rather than having any reservations about her nakedness. The bright orange in the front of the woman, at the same time, echoes with the color at the background. The different types of color panels make it appear that the subject of the painting blend into and become one with her environment. The highly individual spatial composition is full of mystique atmosphere. It is worth noting that Gustav Klimt has deliberately avoided portraying feet in the pictures of his golden period. However, Klimt shows her in a full-frontal pose in this portraiture. Below the hem of her colorful patterned dress are her legs, the white stocking, and the kitten heel