0004
Gustav Klimt
(Wien 1862 - 1918 Wien)
„Standing Nude Girl from the Front (Study for the centre of the Gorgons of the "Feindlichen Gewalten" - Beethoven Frieze)“
1901
black chalk on paper; framed
45.2 x 31 cm
estate stamp on the lower right
no. 1840 verso
Provenance
from the artist's estate;
collection August and Serena Lederer, Vienna;
Erich Lederer, Vienna and Geneva;
private property, Austria
Literature
Marian Bisanz-Prakken, Der Beethovenfries, Salzburg 1977, p. 54, pl. 22 (p. 125);
Alice Strobl, Gustav Klimt. Die Zeichnungen 1878-1903, vol. I, Salzburg 1980, no. 795, ill. p. 237
Estimate: € 60.000 - 120.000
Result: € 89.600 (incl. fees)
Auction is closed.
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This sheet is one of the many studies created for the middle figure of the “three Gorgons”. With its slightly parted legs and exposed pubic hair, the front-facing figure was undoubtedly the most provocative of the trio. Klimt prepares for this effect in the drawing by emphasising the contours of the legs and the pubic area. Unlike in the frieze, here he makes the left hand hang down tensely, while the right hand touches the breast. As in almost all the studies for the Beethoven Frieze, the legs of the standing model are cut off above the feet by the edge of the paper. The figure is poised weightless in a void, yet is at the same time embedded in the picture plane. Austere monumentality and linear melody find simultaneous balance in Klimt’s unmistakeable style.
(Marian Bisanz-Prakken)