.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
Marian Bisanz-Prakken, of the Albertina, Vienna, will include this drawing in the supplement volume to Alice Strobl's catalogue raisonné of Gustav Klimt drawings.
The present drawings (lots 35 and 36) are recently discovered, direct studies for the figures in the audience in Theater Shakespeares: Romeo und Juliet (Novotny and Dobai, no. 39), a ceiling painting Klimt executed for the the Burgtheater in Vienna in 1886-1888, which is currently situated in the southern staircase of the theatre. These drawings most probably belong to the earliest group of studies for the painting dating them 1886-1887 (see Strobl, nos. 142-157).
Bärtiger Mann im Profil nach links (lot 35) is a study for the older man in the dark coat in the foreground at the right, who is leaning forward in his seat, seemingly captivated by the performance. In the final painting, however, Klimt did not depict him with a beard. Junger Mann im Profil nach links (lot 36) is an immediate study for the young man at the furthest right side of the foreground, nearly identical to the painting in execution and detail.
The present drawings (lots 35 and 36) are recently discovered, direct studies for the figures in the audience in Theater Shakespeares: Romeo und Juliet (Novotny and Dobai, no. 39), a ceiling painting Klimt executed for the the Burgtheater in Vienna in 1886-1888, which is currently situated in the southern staircase of the theatre. These drawings most probably belong to the earliest group of studies for the painting dating them 1886-1887 (see Strobl, nos. 142-157).
Bärtiger Mann im Profil nach links (lot 35) is a study for the older man in the dark coat in the foreground at the right, who is leaning forward in his seat, seemingly captivated by the performance. In the final painting, however, Klimt did not depict him with a beard. Junger Mann im Profil nach links (lot 36) is an immediate study for the young man at the furthest right side of the foreground, nearly identical to the painting in execution and detail.