Gustav Klimt:
Bust of a Girl in Profile, 1915 (Mädchenbrustbild nach links)
Pencil and white crayon on paper
56 × 36.9 cm (22 × 14½ in.)
Auctioned at Sotheby’s in 2010
(Strobl s2633)

Gertrude (Trude) Flöge (1907–1971) was the daughter of Hermann Flöge (1878–1936) and Helene Paulick (1881–1938), and the niece of Emilie Flöge (1874–1952), Gustav Klimt’s lifelong companion. Between 1900 and 1916, the Flöge family spent their summers at the Villa Paulick on the Attersee, a lakeside retreat originally built by Helene’s father. Emilie, Hermann, Helene, and young Trude were part of this close-knit summer household, and Klimt became deeply attached to them.

Klimt formed a warm and lasting bond with Trude, treating her with affection and care, almost like a surrogate niece. She was part of the everyday rhythm—shared meals, walks, quiet afternoons. The drawings he made of her weren’t studies for paintings or public commissions. They were personal. Just five are documented in Strobl’s Die Zeichnungen, each one a quiet record of closeness and memory.

In Mädchenbrustbild nach links, Trude is shown in profile, her head gently turned, her expression calm and inward. There’s no background, no setting—just the soft outline of her face and shoulders. It’s not a formal portrait. It’s a moment remembered. A way for Klimt to hold onto the feeling of those days, and the people who mattered to him.

After Klimt’s death in 1918, Trude took on the quiet but important task of preserving his legacy. She safeguarded letters, photographs, and personal effects, maintaining the estate with care and discretion. She continued this work until her own death in 1971, ensuring that Klimt’s memory—and the private world they shared—was not lost.