Soon, a mysterious female portrait of Gustav Klimt will be exhibited for the first time in Vienna. Automatic translate

VEIN. The almost unknown portrait of Gustav Klimt, which was once considered one of the artist’s earliest works, was re-dated after restoration work. Now the portrait of a lady with a purple scarf, which has never been publicly exhibited, should be presented at the Vienna Museum of History and Art from May 22 to August 31. At the same time, the personality of the woman depicted remains a mystery.

Gustav Klimt - Portrait of a Lady with a Purple Scarf
(Gustav Klimt - Portrait of a Lady with a Lilac Scarf)

Although the portrait appears three times in the catalogs of Klimt (published in 1967, 2007 and 2012), it was presented in them as a grainy black and white photograph, while the lower part of the painting, an 11-centimeter golden rectangle, was not shown at all.

In the 2007 catalog of Alfred Wadinger, the work was attributed to the work of the 17-year-old artist, that is, until 1880, which made the work one of the earliest surviving paintings.

In the catalog of 2012, Tobias Nate attributed the portrait to the years 1880-82. But a thorough cleaning of the canvas carried out by the conservatives of the museum made it possible to more accurately date the work. Now it refers to 1895 or even a later period. This conclusion was partly promoted by the impressionistic visual techniques that became clearly visible on the woman’s skin. The pink, light blue and orange tones used there are characteristic of the artist’s work of the late 1890s.

Gustav Klimt’s works are known throughout the world even to people who are not related to art. The style of his work is often used by designers to create interior items, jewelry, accessories and even coloring pages for girls . The most frequently repeated work is his famous “Kiss,” written in 1907-1908. The painting belongs to the "Golden Age", so named for the use of gilding, which adorns many of the artist’s paintings, including a portrait of a stranger with a purple scarf. Here, gold is not located on the main part of the picture - but under it, a separate rectangle, shading the dark background of the work.

A similar technique is the use of golden borders for paintings, Klimt also applied in the work “Carlos and Love”, 1895. The artist’s signature is also closest to the mid-1890s.

The work was once acquired by Viennese businessman Georg Lasus, an early collector of works by an Austrian artist. After the death of the owner in 1933, the portrait passed to his son-in-law, the artist Joseph Danilouots. Later, the painting was donated to the Vienna Kunsthistorisches Museum.

An intriguing question remains the identity of the woman. She looks about 30 years old. The oval format of the work suggests that it was built on the model of photographs of a similar shape. Someone probably died. The gold leaf below was supposedly intended for the inscription, and the fact that the painting was signed suggests that the artist considered it completed.

Anna Sidorova © Gallerix.ru