Gustav Klimt:
Pregnant woman with man to the left, c. 1902 (Schwangere mit Mann nach links)
Blue chalk on firm, cream Japon nacré.
44 x 30.5 cm
Auctioned at Karl & Faber in 2024 for 40.000 USD
(Strobl s 274)

The drawing is a preparatory study for the painting Hope I, which is currently housed in the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa.

Note translated from German into English:
“In preparation for Hope I (1903–1904), Gustav Klimt produced numerous drawings centered on the motif of a pregnant woman. These studies bear resemblance to figures in his earlier works, such as the Beethoven Frieze and the faculty painting Medicine. Klimt later expanded the motif by introducing a male figure, merging the two into a unified composition reminiscent of The Kiss in the Beethoven Frieze. However, in this instance, the man and woman stand side by side, with the man slightly turned toward the woman, one arm protectively draped around her shoulders.

Klimt consistently portrays the pregnant woman in strict profile, facing left. This compositional choice emphasizes her sense of security, conveyed through the man’s gesture and further expressed in the tilt of their heads and the woman’s forward-leaning shoulders. These studies held significant importance for Klimt, both thematically and formally. His primary aim was to integrate the woman’s body into the contour of the man’s figure. The man’s angular forms and vertical closure on the left, combined with the head-shoulder-upper and lower arm configuration on the right, provided a fitting structural framework.

In depicting the woman, Klimt sought to render her figure with a harmoniously curved outline, allowing her body to radiate brightness and convey a sense of fullness. This approach went far beyond the stylization seen in the pregnant figure of Medicine.

In the final version of Hope I, the male figure is absent. Instead, skull-like faces emerge from the dark background. This shift may reflect a personal tragedy in Klimt’s life: in autumn 1902, his newborn son Otto Zimmermann, with whom Klimt shared a close bond, passed away. This loss may have prompted the transformation of the image from one of initial optimism to a portrayal overshadowed by death.”