What is striking about this late study of a reclining woman, which cannot be linked directly to a particular painting, is the orthogonal structure of the composition. In the centre the raised forearm creates a right angle with the edge of the bed. This horizontal line also divides form from empty non-form, which has a decisive impact on the composition. In addition this horizontal dividing line overlaps the lower parts of the body making them appear more slender and stretched – a trick Klimt often used that can first be found in studies for Water Serpents (I and II, both 1904–1907). Although she is lying still, this reclining woman seems to be dreamily floating along, like a fragment in an endless chain of motion. The schematic lines rendering the garment make her appear as if she has no body. Her face is particularly expressive, captured in nervous, repetitive strokes with a dreamy expression and forming the focus of the depiction. Expressionism evidently did make its mark on Klimt’s late drawings. That the relations between space and surface were prime concerns for the artist until the very end can be seen very vividly in this drawing.

Marian Bisanz–Prakken

Literature: Alice Strobl: Gustav Klimt. Die Zeichnungen. 1912 – 1918. Vol. 3.Verlag Galerie Welz. Salzburg 1984, p. 198 ed seq., cat. rais. no. 2931.