작품 상세

Pencil drawing on thin wove paper 56.9 x 37.4 cm, framed under glass. The reverse probably inscribed by the artist's nephew, Gustav Zimpel (1904-1954), "Nachlaß Gustav Klimt Zimpel Gustav" (Estate of Gustav Klimt Zimpel Gustav). - Fine condition; minor creases along the edges. Strobl 2801 We would like to thank Marian Bisanz-Prakken, Vienna, for kind additional information. Provenance Estate of Gustav Klimt; private possession; Fischer Fine Art Ltd., London 1989; Christie's London, 20 May 1993, lot 595; private possesion; Sotheby's London 22 June 2004, lot 496; private possession Exhibition London 1989 (Fischer Fine Art Ltd.), Klimt and Vienna, no. 15 This drawing belongs to a series of nude studies preparing the painting 'Die Freundinnen' from 1916/1917(Novotny-Dobai 201), dated 1916/17. Gustav Klimt had spent quite some time developing the work. The painting had been commissioned by Dr. Othmar Fritsch for his Graz collection. Later it changed hands and was owned by the great Klimt collector and sponsor, August Lederer. After Lederer's collection had been confiscated under the Nazi regime, it fell victim to wartime flames at Schloss Immendorf, Lower Austria, in 1945, together with numerous other works by Klimt. According to Strobl, Klimt started to work on his series of studies for 'Die Freundinnen' in 1915. At first, we cannot discern any specific type of woman, but when we compare the various Klimt sketches published by Strobl, we can see how the artist gradually developed the final composition of the figures. This drawing already expresses the same characteristic self-confidence as the woman on the right of the executed painting; she assumes a proudly erect posture, surveying the viewer frontally, with a challenging glance. The body, rendered in profile, appears slim and elongated, yet with a certain rhythm created by the roundness of her breasts, stomach and buttocks. The balanced, graceful movement of the lines is further enhanced by a clear differentiation between the supporting leg and the free leg. While other sketches in this series of studies only show hints of faces, this drawing has clearly defined contours of the eyebrows and the nose. Together with the shape of her mouth, which appears slightly open, this gives her a personal expression. As a result, this nude study has a special and elaborated quality, so that it ranks higher than any mere preparatory sketch.