- 62
Gustav Klimt
Estimate
60,000 - 80,000 USD
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Description
- Gustav Klimt
- Liegender Akt nach rechts (Reclining nude to the right)
- stamped Gustav Klimt Nachlass (lower right)
- pencil on tracing paper
- 22 by 14 3/4 in.
- 54.5 by 36 cm
Provenance
Johann Georg, Prince de Saxe (bearing the collector's mark on the verso; Lugt Supplement No. 1162)
Literature
A. Strobl, Gustav Klimt, die Zeichnungen 1912-1918, vol. III, Salzburg, 1984, no. 2392, illustrated p. 69
Condition
Executed on cream wove paper affixed to a mount at two places along extreme top edge of the recto of the sheet. The sheet is time darkened and mat stains are visible to the outer perimeter. Stains from a previous mounting are visible at the extreme bottom edge. Three artist pinholes at bottom right corner and one at bottom left corner. Scattered spots of foxing are visible throughout the sheet and a few surface stains are visible including two areas along lower left edge. Sheet is slightly undulated, primarily within the lower region. There is a three-inch crease along bottom right corner and one-inch crease at top right corner. A few other minor creases around extreme perimeter. Work is in fair condition.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.
Catalogue Note
In contrast to Klimt's earlier renditions of the female nude, the present depiction bears signs of his artistic sophistication and maturity of style. Explicitly erotic, without any assigned narrative, the model is presented as the viewer's object of desire. At the same time, the sitter's pose reflects the sharpness of the artist's eye as well as his natural sense of draughtsmanship.
Regine Schmidt wrote of Klimt's treatment of the female form and its centrality to his entire output as an artist: 'Gustav Klimt's work was and is such that one can lose oneself in it. His women, ladies and girls are mere forms of nature itself, flowers, as it were, that he drew and painted as they budded, blossomed and withered.... Like the later work of Franz Wiegele, his oeuvre is a constant homage to woman. To Klimt, they were erotic creatures' (R. Schmidt, 'Of Sweet Young Things and Femmes Fatales: Gustav Klimt and Women around 1900. A Path to Freedom', in Gerbert Frodl & Tobias G. Natter (ed.), Klimt's Women, Yale University Press, 2000, pp. 27 & 30).
Regine Schmidt wrote of Klimt's treatment of the female form and its centrality to his entire output as an artist: 'Gustav Klimt's work was and is such that one can lose oneself in it. His women, ladies and girls are mere forms of nature itself, flowers, as it were, that he drew and painted as they budded, blossomed and withered.... Like the later work of Franz Wiegele, his oeuvre is a constant homage to woman. To Klimt, they were erotic creatures' (R. Schmidt, 'Of Sweet Young Things and Femmes Fatales: Gustav Klimt and Women around 1900. A Path to Freedom', in Gerbert Frodl & Tobias G. Natter (ed.), Klimt's Women, Yale University Press, 2000, pp. 27 & 30).