Gustav Klimt

Estate of the artist
Josef Hupka, Vienna (acquired from the above circa 1925)
Joseph Breuer, Vienna (a gift from the above by 1938)
A gift from the above to the present owner circa 1980


The authenticity of this work has been confirmed by Dr Marian Bisanz-Prakken, Albertina, Vienna. This work will be included in the forthcoming supplement to the Gustav Klimt Catalogue raisonné of drawings.

Executed on cream wove paper, not laid down, hinged to the backboard at the upper corners and floating in the mount. There is some light time staining, mostly at the upper corners, and some very light creases at the extreme top and bottom edges and bottom left corner. Overall, the work is in very good condition Colours: Fairly accurate in the printed catalogue.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

'The drawing is connected with a group of studies of sitting female models with their heads bent down, drawn circa 1904 (Strobl II, nos. 1419-1428, especially with Strobl no. 1419). The expression of sorrow anticipates Klimt's figure studies for the painting Tod und Leben, drawn 1908-09 (Strobl  II, nos. 1819-1876). This extraordinary drawing is the most expressive and radical example of the 1904 group. The vertical stream of hair almost totally covers the profile face and seems to be organically connected with the "mountain" of blankets. In its angular linearity the gaunt body recalls the sculptures and the woodcuts of the contemporary Belgian sculptor George Minne, whose work around 1900 was enthusiastically received by the Viennese Avant-Garde. In the first years of the 20th century Minne's extremely stylized, "gothic" figures were of great impact on Klimt's figure art and soon thereafter on the expressionism of Egon Schiele and Oskar Kokoschka'. Dr. Marian Bisanz-Prakken