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Klimt, Gustav
Study for the Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer, II
1912

Gustav Klimt, a leading exponent of Art Nouveau in Austria and the first president of the Vienna Succession, is known particularly for his striking images of women. Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, a wealthy Vienna industrialist, twice commissioned Klimt to paint his wife Adele. The resultant portraits of 1907 and 1912 can be found in Vienna’s Österreichische Galerie. The first is a classic example of Klimt’s golden style, while the second, for which this drawing is a prepatory study, demonstrates the influence of the Fauves. Klimt made hundreds of drawings of Adele Bloch Bauer in preparation for these paintings. As with most of his studies, in this work, Klimt crops Bloch Bauer at the forehead and provides very little detail in the face. The drawing is quite sketchy in character, capturing only the essence of her dress and pose.

 
Klimt, Gustav
born Baumgarten, Austria, 1862; died Vienna, Austria, 1918
Study for the Portrait of Adele Bloch Bauer, II
1912
Graphite on paper
56.70x 37.2 cm
Purchase, George Taylor Richardson Memorial Fund, Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation and Gallery Association, 2000
43-010

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