Reclining semi-nude facing left, 1914 – 1915

Blatt: 373 x 569 mm

Physical Description: Pencil and white chalk on Japanese paper

Inventory Number: 17900

Object Number: 17900 Z

Acquisition: Acquired in 2019 as a bequest from Ulrike Crespo from the Karl Ströher Collection

Status: Can be presented in the study room of the Graphische Sammlung (special opening hours)

Texts

About the Work

Her eyes closed, a faint smile on her lips, her pose and body language relaxed and uninhibited—the model Klimt captured with dynamically varied pencil lines and a bit of white chalk seems completely at one with herself. It is a sensitive representation of an intimate act, but not at the cost of the directness so characteristic of Klimt. He had been studying the taboo topic of feminine autoeroticism in numerous drawings of this kind since 1912.

About the Acquisition

The Städel Museum has the photographer, psychotherapist, philanthropist, and long-time Frankfurt resident Ulrike Crespo (1950–2019) to thank for more than ninety works ranging from classical modernism to American pop art. The paintings, drawings, and prints by Wassily Kandinsky, Otto Dix, Oskar Schlemmer, Max Ernst, Jean Dubuffet, Cy Twombly, and others originally belonged to the holdings of her grandfather, the Darmstadt-based industrialist Karl Ströher (1890–1977), who amassed an extensive art collection after World War II.

Work Data

Basic Information

Title: Reclining semi-nude facing left

Draughtsman

Gustav Klimt

Period Produced

20th century

Object Type

drawing

Physical Description: Pencil and white chalk on Japanese paper

Material

Technique

Geographic Reference

Austrian

Label at the Time of Manufacture: Signiert unten rechts (möglicherweise von fremder Hand, mit Bleistift): GVSTAV / KLIMT

Captions Added Later: Verso nummeriert und bezeichnet entlang der rechten Blattkante unten (mit Bleistift): 50[?]72 / Jo [?]/50.5

Watermark

Nicht vorhanden

Work Catalogues

Strobl 2400a

Property and Acquisition

Institution

Städel Museum

Departement

Department of Prints and Drawings

Collection

Städelsches Kunstinstitut

Creditline: Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main

Picture Copyright: Public Domain

Acquisition: Acquired in 2019 as a bequest from Ulrike Crespo from the Karl Ströher Collection

Work Content

Motifs and References

Genre

nude

Iconclass

Primary

31A14 human figure of ideal proportions, e.g. academic nude
31AA the (nude) human figure; 'Corpo humano' (Ripa) - AA - female human figure
31D15 adult woman
31AA236 lying figure - AA - female human figure

Secondary

41A7632 pillow

Research and Discussion

Provenance

Object History: ...

Walter Andreas Hofer (1893-1971), München

Verst. Kunstkabinett R. N. Ketterer, Stuttgart, an Eberhard W. Kornfeld, Bern, 25.-27. November 1952

Verst. Gutekunst und Klipstein, Bern, an Karl Ströher (1890-1977), Darmstadt, 24. November 1955 (Los-Nr. 36)

Nachlass Karl Ströher, 1977

an seine Enkelin Ulrike Crespo (1950-2019), Frankfurt am Main

Vermächtnis an das Städelsche Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt am Main, 2019.

Information

Since 2001, the Städel Museum has systematically been researching the provenance of all objects that were acquired during the National Socialist period, or that changed owners or could have changed owners during those years. The basis for this research is the “Washington Declaration”, also known as the “Washington Conference Principles”, formulated at the 1998 “Conference on Holocaust-Era Assets” and the subsequent “Joint Declaration”.

The provenance information is based on the sources researched at the time they were published digitally. However, this information can change at any time when new sources are discovered. Provenance research is therefore a continuous process and one that is updated at regular intervals.

Ideally, the provenance information documents an object’s origins from the time it was created until the date when it found its way into the collection. It contains the following details, provided they are known: