Artwork Page for Hermine Gallia

Details / Information for Hermine Gallia

Hermine Gallia

c. 1904

Gustav Klimt

(Austrian, 1862–1918)
Culture
Austria
Medium
black chalk with graphite on light brown laid paper
Support
Light brown modern laid paper
Measurements
Sheet: 45.6 x 31.2 cm (17 15/16 x 12 5/16 in.)
Credit Line
Gift of Henry H. Hawley 1972.312
Public Domain
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Location
Not on view
Print
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Did You Know?

This drawing is one of about 40 drawings made by Gustav Klimt for his painted portrait of Hermine Gallia.

Description

Gustav Klimt created this drawing in preparation for a painted portrait, now in the collection of the National Gallery, London. Both depict Hermine Gallia, née Hamburger, who belonged to a wealthy Jewish family in Vienna. Through vanguard circles in the city, she met the artist and commissioned a canvas of her own likeness. This sheet may have been drawn from life, given its loose and sketchlike facture, seemingly meant to quickly record Gallia's form on the elaborate white dress in which she posed.
A vertically oriented black chalk and graphite drawing on light brown paper depicts Hermine Gallia facing slightly right. Her light skin and facial features are simplified. Voluminous, ruffled clothing is rendered through overlapping, gestural lines, including horizontal stripes. A sketchy outline defines her contour, from which curved lines hazily escape. These loose, centered strokes suggest movement, with lines darkest where the tiered fabric overlaps.

Hermine Gallia

c. 1904

Gustav Klimt

(Austrian, 1862–1918)
Austria

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