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Lot Essay
The present drawing is one of thirteen preparatory studies for Klimt's unfinished oil Damenbildnis of 1917-18 (N. and D. no. 209; fig. 1) now in the Wolfgang Gurlitt Museum in Linz. It is also possible that the drawing relates to the painting Die Tänzerin of 1916-18 (N. and D. no. 208; fig. 1), as it is also believed to represent Ria Munk.
The portrait of Ria Munk was one of several canvases left unfinished in Klimt's studio when he died, and the incomplete components of the work reveal the artist's artistic process. The sitter's face and most of the patterned background are close to a final state, while the body and the kimono remains a tentative chalk drawing. Klimt made numerous studies for each of his portraits, but the unfinished portrait of Ria Munk reveals that he was as keen and eager to explore decorative and artistic variants on canvas as he was on paper.
The clothes are of enormous importance in every Klimt portrait. Indeed, the woman's dress serves the same purpose as it does in reality: it glamourises the subject, and is an expression of status and taste. The kimono reappears in many of Klimt's paintings and drawings usually as a means of ornament. An alluring decorative device, the kimono provides the artist with the opportunity to adorn and enrich his subjects and recalls his personal fascination with the Oriental. Klimt owned a fine collection of Japanese kimonos and always wore a kimono-like garment himself while painting. He had studied Japanese textile art closely, and thoroughly absorbed the Oriental pattern-ground principle in his art.
The verso of the present lot is a study relating to Klimt's Die Freundinnen of 1917 (N. and D. no. 201).
The portrait of Ria Munk was one of several canvases left unfinished in Klimt's studio when he died, and the incomplete components of the work reveal the artist's artistic process. The sitter's face and most of the patterned background are close to a final state, while the body and the kimono remains a tentative chalk drawing. Klimt made numerous studies for each of his portraits, but the unfinished portrait of Ria Munk reveals that he was as keen and eager to explore decorative and artistic variants on canvas as he was on paper.
The clothes are of enormous importance in every Klimt portrait. Indeed, the woman's dress serves the same purpose as it does in reality: it glamourises the subject, and is an expression of status and taste. The kimono reappears in many of Klimt's paintings and drawings usually as a means of ornament. An alluring decorative device, the kimono provides the artist with the opportunity to adorn and enrich his subjects and recalls his personal fascination with the Oriental. Klimt owned a fine collection of Japanese kimonos and always wore a kimono-like garment himself while painting. He had studied Japanese textile art closely, and thoroughly absorbed the Oriental pattern-ground principle in his art.
The verso of the present lot is a study relating to Klimt's Die Freundinnen of 1917 (N. and D. no. 201).