GUSTAV KLIMT (1862-1918)

At once analytical and glamorizing, Klimt’s representations of Viennese women captured their individual personalities as well as their places in society. A portraitist already celebrated by his contemporaries, Klimt had the natural ability to notice and immortalize subtle mannerisms. Small gestures such as the present hatted figure’s relaxed, downward gaze against her impeccable, upward posture, depict a sophisticated woman in a moment of abandonment. The lying figure’s clenched, sleeping arms as she rests her head on her friend’s lap give the viewer access to a moment of genuine intimacy.
Berta Zuckerkandl, Austrian writer and critic, remarked in 1907: “Klimt paints the woman of his time. Down to the most secret fibers of her being, he has followed her frame, the outlines of her shape, the modelling of her flesh and the machinery of her movements and has made them a permanent part of his memory. [...] Whether they are cruel and lustful or cheerful and sensual, his women are always full of mysterious charm' (B. Zuckerkandl, Zeitkunst: Wien 1901-1907, Vienna, 1908, reproduced in exh. cat., Gustav Klimt: Zeichnungen, Hanover, 1984, p. 149).
Both precise and free, Klimt’s hand in his works on paper parallel his intention in capturing his models’ inner lives. He was obsessed by drawing to the point where sketching was a quotidian and essential activity. The results are a language in which he expresses his ideas quickly yet profoundly. He considered his drawings to be records and evidence of his thoughts, not finished works of art. As a consequence, works such as Bildnisskizze mit hohem Hut und liegende Frau were little known during his lifetime. It was only after the artist's death in 1918 that his brilliance as a draughtsman was recognized, and exhibitions of his graphic work first mounted.