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Lot Essay
As identified by Alice Strobl, the present work relates to a series of preparatory drawings relating to Klimt's celebrated Die Jungfrau of 1913 (N. and D. no. 184; see Lot 14, fig. 1) which today forms part of the collection of the Národní Galerie in Prague. Among other drawings from this series is Halbakt von vorne (Alice Strobl no. 2227), housed in the Carnegie Institute in Pittsburgh, where the model, dressed in what appears to be the same diaphonous gown as in the present work, takes up a standing pose.
Klimt was an avid Oriental art collector and its influence can be see throughout the artist's oeuvre. Upon a visit to his colleague's studio, Egon Schiele, described that 'in the middle of it stood a square table, and all around, close together, Japanese woodblock prints and two larger Chinese paintings were hanging, while Negro sculptures stood on the floor. In a corner by the window there was a red and black Japanese suit of armour... to another room in which a single, large cupboard had been fitted containing the most beautiful Chinese and Japanese clothes' (quoted in F. Whitford, Gustav Klimt, London, 1993, p. 137).
The present work is clearly evocative of the Japanese erotic prints which Klimt so admired, and as in Japanese art the erotic tension which herewith grips the viewer arises from the interplay between what is revealed and what is concealed. Less overtly sexual than other of Klimt's drawings, the present work is playfully erotic as Klimt and his model mischievously tease the viewer.
Klimt was an avid Oriental art collector and its influence can be see throughout the artist's oeuvre. Upon a visit to his colleague's studio, Egon Schiele, described that 'in the middle of it stood a square table, and all around, close together, Japanese woodblock prints and two larger Chinese paintings were hanging, while Negro sculptures stood on the floor. In a corner by the window there was a red and black Japanese suit of armour... to another room in which a single, large cupboard had been fitted containing the most beautiful Chinese and Japanese clothes' (quoted in F. Whitford, Gustav Klimt, London, 1993, p. 137).
The present work is clearly evocative of the Japanese erotic prints which Klimt so admired, and as in Japanese art the erotic tension which herewith grips the viewer arises from the interplay between what is revealed and what is concealed. Less overtly sexual than other of Klimt's drawings, the present work is playfully erotic as Klimt and his model mischievously tease the viewer.