Gustav Klimt:
Recumbent Half Figure Nude facing Right (Liegender Halbakt nach rechts), 1914/1915
Blue pencil on slightly yellow‑tinted Simili Japon
Ca. 37 × 56 cm
Auctioned at Karl & Faber, Munich, 2022
(Strobl s2418)

This large drawing belongs to Klimt’s late years, when the reclining nude had become one of his most enduring themes. The sheet, worked in blue pencil with a bold and assured hand, shows how far he had moved from the academic training of his youth. By the 1910s, the rigid, statue‑like figures of the Kunstgewerbeschule were replaced by bodies that are immediate, sensual, and alive with psychological tension.

The figure lies in quiet foreshortening, the body itself carrying the composition without the distraction of background props. A dotted cloth slips gently over the legs below the knees—a motif that appears in several drawings of this period, both concealing and heightening the sense of intimacy. The choice of Simili Japon paper, with its smooth surface and faint tint, enhances the clarity of the line and the rare use of blue pencil.

Klimt’s fascination with Japanese art is visible here, echoing the erotic woodcuts he collected and the textiles he admired. At the same time, the monumental presence of Ferdinand Hodler, the expressive modeling of Rodin’s late works, and the rediscovery of El Greco around 1900 all left their mark. Yet Klimt’s approach remained unmistakably his own: repeating the theme obsessively, inventing variations with each stroke, and staging the female body as both powerful and vulnerable.

Auction Note (Karl & Faber, 2022)

Karl & Faber described the reclining nude as “one of the most important and frequent motifs in art history and Klimt’s work.” They emphasized Klimt’s near‑obsessive engagement with the theme of the naked and aroused body, drawing women and lovers with tireless invention. Over time, he moved away from the academic, statue‑like nude of his student years and developed a style that was unmistakably his own. With a confident stroke, he produced countless variations—usually pure and uncluttered, occasionally introducing a delicate cloth that mysteriously veils certain parts of the body.

To create depth, Klimt relied on sophisticated foreshortening of the reclining figure, rarely suggesting a pillow or couch beyond the faintest of lines. The auction house also noted the clear influence of Japanese art, especially erotic woodcuts, alongside echoes of Hodler, Rodin, and El Greco. The dotted cloth motif, gently covering the lower legs, recurs in his works of this period. The execution in blue pencil, with strong strokes across the large sheet, was singled out as a rarity within his oeuvre.