In 1901, Klimt painted the Beethoven Frieze for the 14th Vienna Secessionist exhibition in celebration of the composer, and featured a monumental polychrome sculpture by Max Klinger. The Beethoven Frieze. Meant for the exhibition only, the frieze was painted directly on the walls with light materials. It depicts a knight clad in a golden armour and driven by pity and ambition fighting for a poor and weak family against “evil forces”. Thirty-four meters wide and two meters high is this opulent, ornamental "symphony"; in which Klimt sought to immortalize Beethoven's "Ninth" and its interpretation by Richard Wagner. Measuring slightly over 34 metres long and 2.17 metres high, the Viennese painter captured man’s longing for happiness in his mural. Meant for the exhibition only, the frieze was painted directly on the walls with light materials. Meant for the exhibition only, the frieze was painted directly on the walls with light materials. The Beethoven Frieze. Meant for the exhibition only, the frieze was painted directly on the walls with light materials. In 1901–2 Klimt worked on a groundbreaking decorative cycle, the Beethoven Frieze, which was displayed in the Secession building, where it still is today.It was a painted interpretation of one of the greatest musical compositions ever written, the final choral movement of Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony (1824). Learn more: March 7, … Klimt’s monumental frieze greeted visitors in the entrance hall. The entire work weighs four tons. It depicts a knight clad in a golden armour and driven by pity and ambition fighting for a poor and weak family against “evil forces”. The frieze is large, standing at 7 feet high with a width of 112 feet. Measuring slightly over 34 metres long and 2.17 metres high, the Viennese painter captured man’s longing for happiness in his mural. Beethoven Frieze was painted by Klimt in 1902 for the 14th Vienna Secessionist exhibition, which was intended to be a celebration of the composer and featured a monumental polychrome sculpture by Max Klinger. The Beethoven Frieze is on permanent display in the Vienna Secession Building in a specially built, climate-controlled basement room.

Klimt’s monumental frieze greeted visitors in the entrance hall. After the exhibition the painting was preserved, although it did not go on display again until 1986. Beethoven Frieze was painted by Klimt in 1902 for the 14th Vienna Secessionist exhibition, which was intended to be a celebration of the composer and featured a monumental polychrome sculpture by Max Klinger. In 1902, Gustav Klimt finished the Beethoven Frieze for the 14th Vienna Secessionist exhibition, which was intended to be a celebration of the composer and featured a monumental, polychromed sculpture by Max Klinger. In 1902, Gustav Klimt finished the Beethoven Frieze for the 14th Vienna Secessionist exhibition, which was intended to be a celebration of the composer and featured a monumental, polychromed sculpture by Max Klinger. Despite its rejection in Vienna, his Medicine was exhibited at the Exposition Universelle in Paris and received the Grand Prix, and in 1902 his Beethoven Frieze was exhibited to … Gustav Klimt, Beethoven Frieze, Vienna Secession, 1902 A conversation with Khan Academy's Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris In the News: The heirs of the Austrian Jewish collector who owned this work before World War II recently lost their case to recover it. Thirty-four meters wide and two meters high is this opulent, ornamental "symphony"; in which Klimt sought to immortalize Beethoven's "Ninth" and its interpretation by Richard Wagner. The Beethoven Frieze was created by Gustav Klimt for the Fourteenth Exhibition of the Viennese Secession in 1902. The exhibition was devoted to the genius of Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827) and centred around a life-size marble statue of the composer by the German painter and sculptor Max Klinger (1857–1920).