Gustav Klimt

(Vienna 1862–1918)
Hermine Gallia. Stehend nach links (Standing to the Left), c. 1903/04, black chalk on paper, 45 x 31 cm, framed
Listed and illustrated:
Alice Strobl, Gustav Klimt. Die Zeichnungen, Salzburg 1980, vol. I, cat. rais. no. 1048

Provenance:
Collection of Rudolf Zimpel (1898–1984), Vienna
with Christian M. Nebehay, Fine Arts, Vienna, 1962
sold to Galerie Gerda Bassenge, Berlin, 21 January 1963
Sale: Karl & Faber, Munich, 30 November – 1 December 1972, lot 799
with Martin Suppan, Vienna
Private Collection, Switzerland
Sale: Galerie Kornfeld, Bern, 17 June 2022, lot 100
Private Collection, Italy

Literature:
Christian M. Nebehay (ed.), Gustav Klimt Dokumentation, Vienna 1969, ill. 436

Exhibition and Catalogue:
Vienna, Gustav Klimt. 150 bedeutende Zeichnungen, Ch. M. Nebehay, catalogue V, 1962, no. 30f

This drawing is one of approximately forty-five studies known today through which Gustav Klimt prepared the portrait of Hermine Gallia (née Hamburger), dated 1904. In their apartment on Wohllebengasse, Vienna, designed by Josef Hoffmann, Moritz and Hermine Gallia gave pride of place to the portrait painted by Klimt (now in the National Gallery, London), as they did with his painting Beech Forest II. The celebrated portrait depicts the sitter standing in a half-turned pose and slightly precedes the portraits of the so-called “Golden Style”, which Klimt began painting from 1904 onward. While it does not yet feature the geometric background design characteristic of the “golden” paintings, the pronounced ornamentation of the translucent fabrics already anticipates these forthcoming developments.

The drawings produced around 1903 likewise bear witness to this transitional moment. Alice Strobl distinguishes three phases of production. The earliest group of studies shows the model seated in an armchair. This is followed by sheets in which Klimt attempts to capture the standing figure in geometrically emphasized outlines. The present drawing belongs to the third group of studies, which comes closest to the final work. Here, the standing figure appears reversed in relation to the executed version; however, it already displays the combination of a slightly turned body and a face directed toward the viewer, in which Klimt accentuates only the left eyebrow and the mouth. Both, the boa draped around the shoulders and the long scarf are present; the rhythmic zigzagging and linear strokes of the latter stand out darkly against the bright underlying layer of clothing. This work is among the last drawings Klimt executed in black chalk on brown paper. From 1904 onward, in parallel with his earliest paintings of the Golden Style, he would shift to pencil and to a lighter type of paper.

Marian Bisanz-Prakken