Marie,

                     from my Klimt series, a range of shoes inspired by the Gustav Klimt (1862-1918) portraits of elaborately dressed Austrian society women. Marie, painted in 1901, was the wife of Hugo Henneberg, a scientist and graphic artist.  The painting with its subdued colours seems less complex than others of this era.  The shoes reflect Marie’s ornate dress with its elaborate ruffles flowing down the front and a speckled blue & white glaze picks up on the brushstrokes of these colours in the painting. The hues of the background are reflected on the toe and heel which contrast with the highly detailed modelled and impressed patterns decorating the toe and sides of the shoes.  The shape of the shoe is based on those made by the Italian shoemaker Pietro Yantorny (1874-1936), the self-proclaimed "most expensive shoemaker in the world" who created shoes only for the wealthiest women.