So ubiquitous is the style and imagery of Gustav Klimt that it reaches into bizarre corners of pop culture: the kids animation Mia and Me borrows unashamedly from Klimt’s whorls and rectangles, and of course there’s that episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer where the undead steal posters of The Kiss from hapless college students. This, partly, is what makes Klimt a blockbuster figure in contemporary art culture; the eye-watering auction prices his work commands is another factor.
Hence the unusual direction of the newest offering in the Exhibition on Screen strand; as opposed to the customary approach of focusing on a specific show or oeuvre, here the subject is a deep dive into Klimt’s celebrated poster favourite which – inevitably – opens out into a wider examination of the artist’s obsessions and influences.
