Pencil and black Chalks.
Strobl 1485. Lower right with the estate stamp (Lugt 1575). On off-white Japon. 37.2 x 56.6 cm. , size of sheet. [AM].
- The impressively filigree study was made in context of Klimt's infamous painting "Wasserschlangen II" (Privatbesitz). - With a price of ca. 170 million US-dollar, "Wasserschlangen II" (1904-1907), exhibited at the Belvedere in Vienna until May 29, 2023 , is the most expensive artwork by Klimt ever. - In "Freundinnen, die Unterschenkel mit gemustertem Tuch verdeckt", the artist experiments with the arrangement of the sensuai nymphs and the typical ornamental structures. - The element of water is of particular importance in Gustav Klimt's œuvre. - The female body - partly veiled by a floating cloth - reminds of water and the shape of waves.
The work will be included into the online catalogue raisonné of Gustav Klimt's drawings, compiled by Dr. Elisabeth Dutz, Albertina, Vienna.
LITERATURE: Alice Strobl, Gustav Klimt. Die Zeichnungen, vol. II (1904-1912), Salzburg 1982, cat. no. 1485, p. 94 (with illu. p. 95).