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Female Head, Her Chin Resting in Her Hands. Study for the Gorgons from the Beethoven Frieze, 1901

Leopold Museum,
Vienna
Pencil on brown paper
44.6×30.6 cm

Artists

  • Gustav Klimt

    (Baumgarten near Vienna/Vienna 1862–1918 Vienna)

Unfortunately not on display at the moment
In the summer of 1901, Gustav Klimt (1862–1918) executed a large number of studies for the Beethoven Frieze within a short period of time. Klimt created this wall frieze for the famous Beethoven Exhibition held at the Vienna Secession from April to July 1902. The present study was likely created in connection with the middle figure of the three Gorgons from the group Hostile Forces in the Beethoven Frieze. Klimt dedicated an especially large number of individual, mostly full-figure studies to these daughters of the mythological giant Typhon. In a few works on paper Klimt also rendered the Gorgons in psychologizing face studies, with the present example representing an early but highly emphatic concept sketch.

FS

Object data

Artist/author
  • Gustav Klimt
Title
Female Head, Her Chin Resting in Her Hands. Study for the Gorgons from the Beethoven Frieze
Date
1901
Art movement
Symbolism, Art Nouveau
Category
Graphic work
Material​/technique
Pencil on brown paper
Dimensions
44.6×30.6 cm
Credit line
Leopold Museum, Vienna, Inv. 1348
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 1878-1903, Salzburg 1980.
Catalogue raisonne
  • Strobl Bd. 1/1980: 798
Keywords
woman/girlhead (fem.)head bent forward: bowing (fem.)

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Provenance

Provenance research
Leopold Museum i

Magda Mautner-Markhof, Wien, später Magda Grasmayr, Salzburg (o.D.);
Dr. Klaus Grasmayr, Salzburg (1944-1954); (1)
Dr. Rudolf Leopold, Wien (1954-1994); (2)
Leopold Museum-Privatstiftung, Wien (1994).

  1. Michael Wladika, Dossier „LM Inv. Nr. „1343, 1347, 1348, 1349“ vom 31.01.2018, S. 19f.
  2. Archiv des Leopold Museums, Kaufvertrag vom 23.08.1954 sowie mündliche Auskunft von Elisabeth Leopold vom 03.07.2017 und Bestätigung vom 11.12.2017.

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Search in collection

woman/girlhead (fem.)head bent forward: bowing (fem.)