In his later life – between 1915 and 1917 – Klimt showed a predilection for an even, round facial type. Sometimes he found this in the faces of his models. Frederike Beer-Monti is a case in point – Klimt painted her portrait in 1916 – as is little Trude Flöge, whose face inspired him to draw a series of studies at around the same time. This drawing is one of a large number of independent, anonymous bust and half-length portraits based on this round-faced ideal. In the two-dimensional, mask-like representation of the frontal face with hypnotic eyes and a small, closed mouth there are distant echoes of Fernand Khnopff’s Symbolism, the Belgian artist who once had been so influential. The geometric depiction of the supporting hand also harks back to earlier, post-1900 trends that were most influenced by the Belgian sculptor George Minne. In this drawing, however, the former stringency has been toned down by the looser pencil strokes characterizing Klimt’s late work. The result is a unique blend of sensual immediacy and cool detachment.

Marian Bisanz-Prakken

Literature: Alice Strobl: Gustav Klimt. Vol. III. Die Zeichnungen 1912-1918, Verlag Galerie Welz, Salzburg, 1984, p. 146, ill. p. 147, cat. rais. no. 2702. - Arnold Krieger: Du in der Welt. Gesammelte Liebesgedichte. Mit 20 Zeichnungen von Gustav Klimt und einem Vorwort von H. Schumacher. Darmstadt. 1974, p. 167. - Serge Sabarsky: Gustav Klimt Drawings. Mount Kisco, NY. 1983; Milan. 1983; London. 1984; Berlin and Vienna. 1984, no. 71. - Rene Price, Ed. Gustav Klimt: The Ronald Lauder and Serge Sabarsky Collections. Neue Galerie New York. 2007, ill. p. 346, cat. no. D114.