Gustav KLIMT (1862-1918) - Lot 71

Gustav KLIMT (1862-1918) Standing nude, front, hands in front of lower face Black stone on paper. Monogrammed "GK" right center and inscribed "R" lower right. 45 x 31 cm Traces of mounting tape, creasing and slight insolation of the paper. Provenance : - Galerie M. Knoedler, Zurich - Galerie Berggruen, Paris - Jansem Collection, Paris Exhibition: - Paris, Galerie Berggruen, 1984, illustrated catalog. - Galerie Matignon, Paris. Bibliography: - Catalog raisonné of Gustave Klimt, by Alice Strobl, Die Zeichnungen 1878-1918, Tome IV, pp. 112-113, illustrated under no. 3454. Our drawing is a preparatory study for the central Gorgon in the Beethoven frieze. This fantastic creature, whose head is surrounded by snakes, is often depicted with her two sisters, the three women embodying the forces of evil. In 1901, the Vienna Secession, for its 14th exhibition devoted to Beethoven's music, sought to show the interaction between architecture, painting, sculpture and music. Architect Josef Hoffmann spearheaded the project, creating an installation including painting, sculpture and architecture in memory of Beethoven. Klimt designed a seven-panel mural, 34.14 meters long and 2.15 meters high, depicting the Ninth Symphony. The Beethoven frieze was presented to the public for the first time at this exhibition in 1902. The work was approved by Auguste Rodin, who met Klimt in 1902, and by Gustav Mahler himself: for him, it represented the yearning for happiness of suffering humanity, which sought its appeasement in the arts. But it was also fiercely criticized in the name of morality.