Gustav Klimt

Estate of the artist
Acquired from the above by the family of the present owner

Vienna, Christian M. Nebehay, Gustav Klimt, 40 auserwählte Zeichnungen, 1960, no. 34, illustrated in the catalogue
Brussels, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Art Autrichien du Vingtième Siècle, 1961, no. 90
Vienna, Albertina, Gustav Klimt, 1862-1918 Zeichnungen, Gedächtnisausstellung, 1962, no. 72
Darmstadt, Mathildenhöhe, 3. Internationale der Zeichnung: Sonderausstellung Gustav Klimt und Henri Matisse, 1970, no. 104, illustrated in colour in the catalogue

Christian Nebehay, Gustav Klimt Dokumentation, Vienna, 1969, illustrated in colour pl. X
Christian Nebehay, Gustav Klimt, Sein Leben nach zeitgenössischen Berichten und Quellen, Munich, 1976, illustrated p. 192
Alice Strobl, Gustav Klimt, Die Zeichnungen 1912-1918, Salzburg, 1984, vol. III, no. 2260, illustrated p. 38
Rainer Metzger, Gustav Klimt, Drawings & Watercolours, London, 2005, no. 232, illustrated in colour pp. 302-3

Executed on cream wove paper, hinged to the mount in the top two corners. Apart from some minor creases to the upper right edge and some light studio dirt, mainly to the right edge of the sheet, this work is in good original condition.
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Liegender Halbakt nach rechts is a wonderfully elegant image of a female semi-nude, which belongs to a series of studies for the painting Die Jungfrau (Weidinger no. 214, Národní Galerie, Prague) from 1913 (fig. 1). In contrast to Klimt's earlier renditions of the female nude, the present work bears signs of his artistic sophistication and maturity of style. The female's body is outlined in soft blue coloured crayon, her left arm elegantly resting on her breast. The contrasting strong lines of ornamented drapery and the model's lasciviously lifted red skirt powerfully accessorise her overt erotic pose and accentuate her delicate figure. Reclining diagonally across the sheet with her eyes closed, the sitter seems to be caught in her own act seemingly unaware of being watched.

Rainer Metzger notes: 'In the drawings, Klimt gives pride of his own gaze, the gaze of the artist and expert, the male and the master which is directed at the woman that he sketches. Accordingly, these women do not return the gaze. ... Klimt became nothing but an eye, nothing but a hand, purely from the feeling that moved and enraptured him, was in love with the nature of his subject and he let himself be carried away without restraint' (R. Metzger, Gustav Klimt, Drawings and Watercolours, London, 2005, p. 207).

Fig. 1, Gustav Klimt, Die Jungfrau, 1913, oil on canvas, Národní Galerie, Prague