FREUD

My visit to the Freud Museum was much anticipated. Having been weaned on Walt Disney cartoons depicting Freudian angles whisper advice into the ears of its characters, I am frequently bemused by my own unbalanced infrastructure. The Museum itself is located in his apartment building, which also housed his medical practice. Amazingly, he lived there for 47 years, only leaving when forced out by the Nazi’s in 1938. He died a year later in London.  The letters on the wall of the museum talk about his sadness at leaving, but ‘confident Nazism would not take hold in Austria’.  His letters also talked of the ‘wild-eyed’ Salvador Dali, who he longed to psychoanalysis.  Prior to meeting Dali, he considered all Surrealists, ‘Absolute Crankers’. He also appeared to have a swag of pretty girls vie for his company. Hand written notes from Marlene Dietrich, amongst others, attest to his popularity. Interestingly, at the same time Freud was deconstructing his patients’, his Viennese neighbour, Gustav Klimt, was painting ‘The Kiss’ (which we hope to see tomorrow at the Belvedere). Apparently, Klimt was 45 and still living at home with his mother and two unmarried sisters at the time… “but behind the respectable facade he was a man with a ferocious sexual appetite”. A perfect candidate for Freud.