Brief journeys - Liverpool + Klimt = Golden

I had a time-off-in-lieu (TOIL) day from work on Friday last and, rather than potter around at home as I'm often inclined to do with these days, I took the opportunity to hop on a train and travel up to Liverpool. This is a city that I had not yet visited. Which is odd really, as it is less than 2 hours away and I have always wanted to go. Like several places of interest that are on my doorstep (or not very far from it), Liverpool has been one of those places I have just not made the effort to visit before.

So I made the effort. And it wasn't an effort at all really. I just arranged to meet a friend; booked a couple of train and exhibition tickets; packed some snacks, my camera and a lot of excitement and headed off. And it was so worth it!


This year Liverpool is the European City of Culture 2008, a title that is bestowed on a different city in Europe every year and offers an opportunity for it to showcase its cultural life...

So it seemed appropriate to seek out a little culture. The Beatles tour perhaps? Maybe next time. For this visit, something else. The TATE Liverpool has an exhibition on at the moment that particularly appealed to me and after a little research made me even more excited about my début trip to the city.



I love Klimt. It is probably true that some of his images have been so reproduced that they have lost a little of their impact and become almost clichéd but I have always liked his style. I love the rich decorative textures and mosaic-like patterns and how he portrayed women. And there is no doubt that his fascination with redheads probably endears him to me too. Prints - no matter how well done - never really do the original justice and I didn't properly understand this until I was lucky enough to see some of his work in an exhibition in Rome some years ago. I was absolutely blown away by how rich and gorgeous they are in "person". Awesome.

And the exhibition in Liverpool did not disappoint. It was amazing. So inspiring. It placed Klimt's work in the context of his life in Vienna at the turn of the previous century and in relation to the work of some of his contemporaries in design at the time. Read more about it here, where it is described as an exhibition of "the shimmering and the shocking". Not all the reviews have been glowing and there were not as many of the best known paintings as one might have hoped for, but I loved it.

I always enjoy seeing an artist's preparatory sketches and there were many of them in this show - including those that had Klimt branded pornographic - but the finished painting that left the most lasting impression on me on the day is this one.

The Three Ages of Women

See more of the images from the exhibition here.

Unfortunately, there wasn't enough time to see much of the rest of the city - although this makes for a good excuse to visit again. The Tate Liverpool is in the famous Alfred Dock though and after we'd spent several lovely hours in the exhibition, we had a brief wander and enjoyed lunch with the sounds, smells and images of the docklands all around us. As I also love the sea and all things nautical, this was as near perfect as a day in a city can get for me.