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ONLINECOLLECTION

Bust Portrait of a Female Semi-Nude in Profile from the Left, Resting on a Pillow, 1907/08

Leopold Museum,
Vienna
Pencil on Japanese paper
56.7×37.3 cm

Artists

  • Gustav Klimt

    (Baumgarten near Vienna/Vienna 1862–1918 Vienna)

Unfortunately not on display at the moment
Alice Strobl associated the present portrait study with the studies Gustav Klimt (1862–1918) executed in 1907/08 for his mosaic frieze for the Palais Stoclet and thus with Klimt’s interest in Egyptian art expressed in the numerous studies on the dancer for Expectation. The strict profile of the head, with the geometrical hairstyle, as well as the planar, angular arm are indeed reminiscent of Egyptian relief representations. This likely earned the work the appellation Egyptian Girl, a designation whose authorship can no longer be ascertained. The work presumably shows a model lying on her front towards the left, clutching a pillow. Thus, viewing the work horizontally makes just as much sense as the vertical format suggested by the position of the estate stamp.

Object data

Artist/author
  • Gustav Klimt
Title
Bust Portrait of a Female Semi-Nude in Profile from the Left, Resting on a Pillow
Date
1907/08
Art movement
Art Nouveau, Symbolism
Category
Graphic work
Material​/technique
Pencil on Japanese paper
Dimensions
56.7×37.3 cm
Signature
Stamp (black) lower right: GUSTV KLIMT NACHLASS
Credit line
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Inv. 1294
Inventory access
Contributed to the Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung in 1994
Selection of Reference works
  • Gustav Klimt. Die Sammlung im Leopold Museum, hrsg. von Tobias G. Natter/Elisabeth Leopold, Ostfildern 2013 (Bestandskatalog des Leopold Museum: Band 1).
  • Alice Strobl: Gustav Klimt. Die Zeichnungen 1904-1912, Salzburg 1982.
Catalogue raisonne
  • Strobl Bd. 2/1982: 1905
Keywords

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Provenance

Provenance research
Leopold Museum i

Nachlass Gustav Klimt, Wien (1918); (1)
Galerie Wolfgang Gurlitt, München (vor 1962); (2)
Dr. Rudolf Leopold, Wien (vor 1965-1994); (3)
Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung, Wien (1994).

  1. Nachlass-Stempel »GUSTAV / KLIMT / NACHLASS« vorne rechts unten
  2. Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Katalog zu „Gustav Klimt 1862-1918. Zeichnungen“, Wien 1962, S. 44. Nr. 111
  3. Alice Strobl, Gustav Klimt. Die Zeichnungen 1904-1912, Bd. 2, Salzburg 1982, 220, Nr. 1905

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