Klimt Eugenia Chiffon Scarf

DESIGNER'S NOTES

A vibrant and exciting Fox & Chave silk chiffon scarf with a pattern derived from a detail on the painting Portrait of Eugenia Primavesi (1913-14) by Austrian Art Nouveau artist Gustav Klimt.

The painting is a luminous example of late Art Nouveau, capturing the affluent sitter in a stylised, floral or maybe a garden setting.

Eugenia Primavesi was the wife of banker and industrialist Otto Primavesi, prominent patrons of the arts and members of Vienna’s progressive bourgeoisie. The portrait was commissioned during Klimt’s final phase, when his focus shifted from eroticism to decorative portraiture for elite patrons.

Klimt painted Eugenia in her lavish Vienna home, cloaked in vibrant floral fabrics that echo the textile patterns of the Wiener Werkstätte, with which the Primavesis were closely associated.

At the time, Klimt was moving away from the golden, Byzantine-influenced portraits like Adele Bloch-Bauer I, exploring a more playful, colourful palette. His motivation was partly financial, such commissions were lucrative, but also artistic, as he sought to fuse fine art and design into a Gesamtkunstwerk, or total work of art.

COLOURS

STYLING

There are many ways to style a Fox & Chave chiffon silk scarf including the basic drape, belted drape and reverse drape. Our chiffon silk scarfs look really good worn in the bandit knot or faux infinity style too. More scarf styling ideas are available in this wonderful How to Tie a Scarf book.