Reclining Female Semi-Nude with Raised Dress. Study for The Virgin, 1911/12

The present work on paper is part of a group of around ten known studies showing reclining female semi-nudes with which Gustav Klimt (1862–1918) prepared the central figure in his painting The Virgin. Within this group of works, the artist only slightly varied the position of the reclining figure, which suggests that he might have created them during one portrait session. All the depictions share the complex reclining pose which Klimt captured from an unusual vantage point from above. The model is depicted lying close to the edge of a divan, supporting herself on her spread legs which form a right angle to the floor, her dress hiked up all the way to her belly, her arms folded across her head. Together with her facial expression, this posture conveys a sense of ecstatic rapture which is further enhanced by the whirling contours of the draperies. While Klimt hardly changed the position of the nude, he lowered the dress to cover the entire legs in the painting.

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