Pencil on paper;
Stamp ‘Nachlass Gustav Klimt Sammlung R. Zimpel’ on verso;
17,3 x 12,2 in inch framed (museum glass);
Provenance: The artist's estate.
Collection Rudolf Zimpel (nephew of the artist).
Collection Arturo Schwarz, Milan.
Galleria Del Levante, Milan.
Private collection, Italy, Portofino (purchased from the aforementioned gallery, ca. 1980).
Bonhams London: Expressionism: Germany, Austria and Beyond, 19.10.2023, lot 1.
Vienna Collection.
This pencil drawing by Gustav Klimt, showing a seated male nude with a child in his arms, is a study for a detail from Klimt's controversial work ‘Medicine’. The central depiction in the painting shows a pair of people seen from behind, which only appears with a child in the 1903. The drawing reflects Klimt's intensive exploration of the human figure and his individual style, which developed in the mid-1890s. During this period, he turned away from the academic traditions that had characterised his early career and became a pioneer of Viennese Art Nouveau. ‘Medicine’ was part of the scandalous faculty paintings Klimt created for Vienna University, which were considered too modern and provocative at the time.
The present pencil study was made by the artist for the ‘Medicine’ shown at the Klimt Collective in 1903. This is the only one to feature the human couple with a child seen from the back, which appears in all the states.
Literature: illustrated in: Alice Strobl, Gustav Klimt. Die Zeichnungen. Vol. IV 1878-1918, Salzburg 1889, Nr. 2284.
