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Lot Essay
Liegender Halbakt is a dreamily drawing by Gustav Klimt from the famous Stoclet collection. The Belgian industrialist Adolphe Stoclet was one of the legendary patrons of modern art. His incredible generosity and foresight in commissioning to Joseph Hoffmann and other Secessionist artists to build the Palais Stoclet for him in Brussels is one of the single greatest acts of patronage in the history of Western art. Giving his artists - Hoffman and Klimt amongst others, who conceived the magnificent frieze for the dining room - complete financial and artistic freedom to create exactly what they pleased, resulted not only in Hoffman's masterpiece, but also in a Gesamtkunstwerk of Secessionist art. An opulent and spectacular building, the Palais Stoclet is itself a monumental work of art. Still owned by the Stoclet family, the Palais is a completely integrated artistic environment and living space in which the architecture design, decoration and aesthetic content of every aspect of the building was conceived and made with this overriding sense of totality in mind. It is both a museum and a living manifesto of the genius of Vienna's Ver Sacrum.
Executed in 1904, the year in which work began on designs for the Palais Stoclet, Liegender Halbakt is an especially subtle and sensuous drawing in pencil and chalk of one of Klimt's many female models. Gently outlining a sleeping figure reclining semi-naked, it is both sensual and elegant in the way that it delineates the female form. Although they clearly rank among the artist's greatest creations, Klimt's drawings were regarded by the artist himself as little more than an exercise. He hardly ever sold them, more often giving them away, and he never thought to exhibit them. Klimt was obsessed by drawing to the point where sketching was both an habitual and essential activity for him. The results were the language in which he expresses his ideas quickly and succinctly. He considered his drawings to be records and evidence of his thought processes, not finished works of art. As a consequence works such as Liegender Halbakt were little known during his lifetime and it was only after Klimt's death in 1918 that the artist's brilliance and originality as a draughtsman were recognised, and exhibitions of his graphic work were first mounted.
It is very interesting to note that the present work, which was part of the Stoclet family collection, is not related to the frieze. The continuous generosity of the Stoclet's patronage forged a relationship with his artists that was a daily, constant and continually productive, involving new projects and independent creations, adding the Stoclet's elegance and sophistication to supremely tasteful lifestyle.
Executed in 1904, the year in which work began on designs for the Palais Stoclet, Liegender Halbakt is an especially subtle and sensuous drawing in pencil and chalk of one of Klimt's many female models. Gently outlining a sleeping figure reclining semi-naked, it is both sensual and elegant in the way that it delineates the female form. Although they clearly rank among the artist's greatest creations, Klimt's drawings were regarded by the artist himself as little more than an exercise. He hardly ever sold them, more often giving them away, and he never thought to exhibit them. Klimt was obsessed by drawing to the point where sketching was both an habitual and essential activity for him. The results were the language in which he expresses his ideas quickly and succinctly. He considered his drawings to be records and evidence of his thought processes, not finished works of art. As a consequence works such as Liegender Halbakt were little known during his lifetime and it was only after Klimt's death in 1918 that the artist's brilliance and originality as a draughtsman were recognised, and exhibitions of his graphic work were first mounted.
It is very interesting to note that the present work, which was part of the Stoclet family collection, is not related to the frieze. The continuous generosity of the Stoclet's patronage forged a relationship with his artists that was a daily, constant and continually productive, involving new projects and independent creations, adding the Stoclet's elegance and sophistication to supremely tasteful lifestyle.