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Reclining Female Semi-Nude with Bent Right Arm. Study for The Bride, c. 1917

Leopold Museum,
Vienna
Pencil on Japanese paper
50.1×32.5 cm

Artists

  • Gustav Klimt

    (Baumgarten near Vienna/Vienna 1862–1918 Vienna)

Unfortunately not on display at the moment
The present work is part of an extensive group of studies for the painting The Bride which Gustav Klimt (1862–1918) was working on in 1917/18 and left unfinished in his studio. Six of these studies are kept today at the Leopold Museum. The study’s female nude, depicted with whirling pencil strokes in an enraptured state and performing ecstatic, dance-like movements with one arm strikingly bent in a right angle, is almost identical to the one found in the right half of the painting, with only the head of the woman pointing in the opposite direction. The transparent skirt with a colorful pattern present in the painting was thus an addition that Klimt did not include in his drawings but only prepared in his sketchbook. The study-like character of the drawing, in which Klimt dispensed with fully rendering the hands, for instance, is further emphasized by the fact that the master rudimentarily captured the model’s head a second time directly next to the initial rendering. Two further studies for the same figure, including Back View of a Reclining Female Semi-Nude with Raised Arms, are also housed by the Leopold Museum.

FS

Object data

Artist/author
  • Gustav Klimt
Title
Reclining Female Semi-Nude with Bent Right Arm. Study for The Bride
Date
c. 1917
Art movement
Symbolism, Art Nouveau
Category
Graphic work
Material​/technique
Pencil on Japanese paper
Dimensions
50.1×32.5 cm
Signature
Stamp (purple) lower left: GUSTAV KLIMT NACHLASS; designated lower right: H; head sketch upper left using pencil
Credit line
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Inv. 1287
Inventory access
Contributed to the Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung in 1994
Selection of Reference works
  • Gustav Klimt. Jahrhundertkünstler, hrsg. von Hans-Peter Wipplinger/Sandra Tretter, Wien 2018 (Ausst.-Kat. Leopold Museum, Wien, 22.06.2018–04.11.2018).
  • Trotzdem Kunst! Österreich 1914-1918, hrsg. von Elisabeth Leopold/Ivan Ristić u.a., Wien 2014 (Ausst-Kat. Leopold Museum, Wien, 09.05.2014-15.09.2014).
  • Gustav Klimt. Die Sammlung im Leopold Museum, hrsg. von Tobias G. Natter/Elisabeth Leopold, Ostfildern 2013 (Bestandskatalog des Leopold Museum: Band 1).
  • Klimt persönlich. Bilder - Briefe - Einblicke, hrsg. von Tobias G. Natter/Franz Smola, Wien 2012 (Ausst.-Kat. Leopold Museum, Wien, 24.02.2012–27.08.2012).
  • Alice Strobl: Gustav Klimt. Die Zeichnungen 1912-1918, Salzburg 1984.
Catalogue raisonne
  • Strobl Bd. 3/1984: 3080
Keywords
semi-nudewoman/girllying figure (fem.)looking over the shoulderlegs apart (fem.)breasts

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Provenance

Provenance research
Leopold Museum i

Nachlass Gustav Klimt, Wien (1918); (1)
Helene Donner, Wien (o.D.);
Dr. Rudolf Leopold, Wien (1957-1994); (2)
Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung, Wien (1994).

  1. Nachlass-Stempel »GUSTAV / KLIMT / NACHLASS« vorne links unten
  2. Sonja Niederacher, Dossier zu Gustav Klimt. 26 Zeichnungen aus dem Eigentum von Helene Donner, 31.01.2018

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Search in collection

semi-nudewoman/girllying figure (fem.)looking over the shoulderlegs apart (fem.)breasts