Smaragda Berg, 1906/07

In this painting, Richard Gerstl (1883–1908) depicts Smaragda Berg, the sister of the composer Alban Berg, who formed part of Arnold Schönberg’s circle of close friends, together with Alexander Zemlinsky, Anton von Webern and the painter himself. The work depicts the pianist in the left half of the picture. Illuminated by a bright light and seated in an upper class interior, she is gazing directly at the beholders. The room with its striped tiled floor – possibly a veranda – opens through a non-perspectival door into a sequence of other rooms, which ends in a view of the outdoors. Nevertheless, the composition still appears planar in the tradition of Secessionism. The picture plane is divided into geometrizing bright and dark bands of color, which result from the differing lighting situations and are further enhanced by their dissolution into dots of color. With regard to coloration, the work is dominated by shades of violet and yellow, creating a complementary contrast.

AGW, 2022