Gustav Klimt
Portrait of a lady facing forwards
Artist
Gustav Klimt
Ausstellung
Gustav Klimt, Isetan Museum of Art, Tokyo 1981, no. 106, ill;
Klimt Schiele Kokoschka, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, Rouen et al. 1995, cat. no. 81 ;
Hommage à Serge Sabarsky. Klimt. Kokoschka. Schiele, watercolors and drawings, Jahrhunderthalle Hoechst, Frankfurt/Main 1997, cat. no. 26 ;
Kunstforeningen, Copenhagen 2002.
Klimt Schiele Kokoschka, Musée des Beaux-Arts de Rouen, Rouen et al. 1995, cat. no. 81 ;
Hommage à Serge Sabarsky. Klimt. Kokoschka. Schiele, watercolors and drawings, Jahrhunderthalle Hoechst, Frankfurt/Main 1997, cat. no. 26 ;
Kunstforeningen, Copenhagen 2002.
Provenance
Serge Sabarsky Collection/Asset, New York;
Collection/Foundation Vally Sabarsky, New York.
Collection/Foundation Vally Sabarsky, New York.
Share
Description
- Sensual, intimate portrait of a typical Klimt beauty
- Rare colored drawing by the artist
- Probably created in connection with the right-hand figure of the (burnt) painting "The Girlfriends"
This remarkable drawing by Gustav Klimt shows an unnamed female model. With her large eyes and slightly parted red lips, the lady is an archetypal Klimt figure. Her pose radiates a quiet grace and a subtle but strong attraction. She leans her body slightly forward, her attention focused entirely on the viewer. Klimt uses flowing lines to create a sensual yet intimate atmosphere. Klimt's drawings are usually connected to his paintings. The present drawing was probably created as a preparatory work for the work "The Girlfriends", which was destroyed in 1945 at Immendorf Palace.
Klimt had a close, often romantic relationship with his female models, which is reflected in the closeness and intimacy of his drawings. Klimt's entire oeuvre shows his devotion to women. Regine Schmidt writes about the artist's treatment of the female form and its central importance for his entire artistic oeuvre: "Gustav Klimt's work was and is such that one can lose oneself in it. His women, ladies and girls are mere forms of nature itself, flowers, as it were, which he drew and painted while they budded, blossomed and withered. [...] His oeuvre is a constant homage to women. For Klimt, they were erotic creatures." (Regine Schmidt, in: Klimt's Women, New Haven 2000, pp. 27 and 30).
Klimt transformed drawing into a highly personal, experimental means of expression that lent his work a new spontaneity and subjectivity. The fine pencil line with which he captures, explores and caresses his model shapes the drawing itself as an act of seduction. Klimt renews the European tradition of figuration by placing the female body and human destiny at the center of his interest. This beautiful and tender drawing reveals the inventive power of this extraordinary artist.
Strobl 2830.
- Rare colored drawing by the artist
- Probably created in connection with the right-hand figure of the (burnt) painting "The Girlfriends"
This remarkable drawing by Gustav Klimt shows an unnamed female model. With her large eyes and slightly parted red lips, the lady is an archetypal Klimt figure. Her pose radiates a quiet grace and a subtle but strong attraction. She leans her body slightly forward, her attention focused entirely on the viewer. Klimt uses flowing lines to create a sensual yet intimate atmosphere. Klimt's drawings are usually connected to his paintings. The present drawing was probably created as a preparatory work for the work "The Girlfriends", which was destroyed in 1945 at Immendorf Palace.
Klimt had a close, often romantic relationship with his female models, which is reflected in the closeness and intimacy of his drawings. Klimt's entire oeuvre shows his devotion to women. Regine Schmidt writes about the artist's treatment of the female form and its central importance for his entire artistic oeuvre: "Gustav Klimt's work was and is such that one can lose oneself in it. His women, ladies and girls are mere forms of nature itself, flowers, as it were, which he drew and painted while they budded, blossomed and withered. [...] His oeuvre is a constant homage to women. For Klimt, they were erotic creatures." (Regine Schmidt, in: Klimt's Women, New Haven 2000, pp. 27 and 30).
Klimt transformed drawing into a highly personal, experimental means of expression that lent his work a new spontaneity and subjectivity. The fine pencil line with which he captures, explores and caresses his model shapes the drawing itself as an act of seduction. Klimt renews the European tradition of figuration by placing the female body and human destiny at the center of his interest. This beautiful and tender drawing reveals the inventive power of this extraordinary artist.
Strobl 2830.