New Delhi, Jan 17 (Inditop.com) Austrian Symbolist artist Gustav Klimt is the inspiration for the diversified Bird Group’s 2010 limited edition calendar that features actor Chitrangada Singh and model Ayesha Thapar in two of the painter’s most renowned works.
“Our 2009 calendar was a tribute to Raja Ravi Verma. This year, we have featured the works of Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) which is an innovative way to contemporise the immortal masters,” Bird Group executive director Ankur Bhatia said at the launch of the calendar here Saturday.
Titled “The Sequel”, the calendar, conceived and shot by photographer and ad-film maker Rohit Chawla, features Chitrangada Singh in “Adele Boch Bauer” that was sold for $135 million in 2006 and Ayesha Thapar in “Der Kiss”.
“Der Kiss”, painted by Klimt during his “golden period” is perhaps his most famous work and depicts a couple, various shades of gold and symbols, sharing a kiss against a bronze background.
“Adele Boch Bauer” was painted by Klimt over a three-year period and was commissioned by Ferdinand Bloch Bauer, a rich industrialist of his time.
Speaking about his work, Chawla said: “Inspired by the works of Klimt, one of the 20th century’s most expensive artists, I got an opportunity to recreate his brilliance when the Bird Group commissioned me for their 2010 calendar.
“Klimt’s portraits have a complexity of form and vivid juxtaposition of colours derived from the Austrian rococo (a variation of 18th century French art and interior design),” he added.
Klimt was one of the most prominent members of the Vienna Secession movement. His major works include paintings, murals, sketches, and other art objects. Klimt’s primary subject was the female body and his works are marked by a frank eroticism. Nowhere is this more apparent than in his numerous pencil drawings.
Founded in 1971, the $100 million Bird Group’s core business includes travel technology, comprehensive airline representation and management, hospitality, passenger aviation services and ground handling, cargo management, education and training, business consultancy and luxury retail.
