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Lot Essay
In a study for his drawing of the Muses of Comedy and Tragedy of 1898, entitled Thalia und Melpomene (A. S. no. 441), Klimt chose, according to the artistic convention of obscuring the full face of the Muse of Tragedy, to show her in profile, hair down, gazing forward, and completely absorbed in sad reflection. Another drawing from this time, Brustbild eines Mädchens mit langem Haar im Profil nach links (fig. 1), now in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, could, with its similarly-posed model, also be seen to foreshadow the present work.
The present drawing, which was executed later than the study for the Muses, is a formal reprise of the motif and also a loose rapprochement of the mood. The moment captured is characteristically private and inaccessible. Faceless, expressionless, there is no indication of the model's emotional state. The same moment for the viewer is, however, more charged. The beguiling young nude figure, almost complete, is relaxed and unguarded in her stance. With deft skill and confident economy, Klimt makes distinct the different textures of skin and hair in minimal graceful strokes, paradoxically inviting the viewer to look while the woman resolutely refuses to be seen.
The present drawing, which was executed later than the study for the Muses, is a formal reprise of the motif and also a loose rapprochement of the mood. The moment captured is characteristically private and inaccessible. Faceless, expressionless, there is no indication of the model's emotional state. The same moment for the viewer is, however, more charged. The beguiling young nude figure, almost complete, is relaxed and unguarded in her stance. With deft skill and confident economy, Klimt makes distinct the different textures of skin and hair in minimal graceful strokes, paradoxically inviting the viewer to look while the woman resolutely refuses to be seen.