Hope II

In Hope II, a pregnant woman with a skull nestled into her gown lowers her head toward her swelling belly. Below, three women also bow their heads — in prayer, or possibly mourning. The ornate decoration in Hope II nearly overwhelms its surface. Klimt was committed to craftwork, and was among the many artists of his time who combined archaic traditions (here, Byzantine gold leaf painting) with a modern psychological subject. Klimt lived and worked in turn-of-the-century Vienna, home to Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis; Klimt's exploration of formative drives such as sex and death parallel Freud's explorations of the psyche.