Gustav Klimt

(Vienna 1862–1918)
Brustbild mit geschlossenen Augen, Studie zu „Die Jungfrau“ (Portrait with eyes closed. Study for “The Virgin”), c. 1911/1912, estate stamp; stamp of the collection Sammlung Viktor Fogarassy and the number K3 on the reverse; red crayon on paper, 56 x 37 cm, framed
Listed and illustrated:
Alice Strobl, Gustav Klimt. Die Zeichnungen, Salzburg 1984, vol. III, cat. rais. no. 2297

Provenance:
Viktor Fogarassy (1911–1989), Graz
Sale: Sotheby’s London, February 6, 2002, lot 145
Private Collection, Hessen

Exhibition and Catalogue:
Vienna, Gustav Klimt. Zeichnungen, Gedächtnisausstellung, Graphische Sammlung Albertina, October 16 – December 16, 1962, cat. no. 200

As a passionate draughtsman of the female figure, Klimt repeatedly attempts to assign his models to specific fundamental postures or directions of movement. Poses, gestures, and subtle nuances of expression play a significant role, as does the manner in which each figure is fixed within the picture plane and fragmented by the edges of the paper.
The positions of the depicted figures can sometimes lead to different perceptions, as seen in the present drawing, which Alice Strobl published in the third volume of her catalogue raisonné (1984) under the number 2297 with the title Bust Portrait Facing Left. She classifies the sheet as part of a group of portrait drawings, which she connects with the central figure of the painting The Virgin (1912/13) (Strobl III, nos. 2287–2298). For the reproduction of this drawing, Strobl states that she chose the “portrait format” for “comparison purposes” with the adjacent illustration, cat. no. 2296. Both bust portraits are therefore shown in profile view with closed eyes.
At the same time, Strobl notes that she exhibited the Bust Portrait Facing Left – the drawing presented here – in the 1962 Klimt exhibition she curated at the Albertina, in a “reclining” position. This reference indirectly allows for two possible ways of viewing the image, a duality which in itself is not unusual in Klimt’s work (nor later in Egon Schiele’s). However, the “reclining” option in the horizontal format seems to be the more convincing one. One only needs to observe the cushion positioned at the bottom right, the vertical fall of the hair, or the beginning of the hanging arm.
Furthermore, the sweeping line movement of the diagonally reclining torso corresponds with many of Klimt's horizontally aligned compositions. Particularly characteristic is the way this movement reaches its formal and spiritual apex in the ecstatic elevation of the face, with the trance-like closed eyes. Klimt’s almost painterly use of the red crayon contributes significantly to the transcendent atmosphere of the drawing.
Marian Bisanz-Prakken