Gustav Klimt
Sleeping Half‑Length Nude (Schlafender Halbakt), circa 1914–1915
pencil on paper
56.5 × 37.4 cm (22 1/4 × 14 3/4 in.)
Auctioned at Christie’s in 2022 for USD 189,000
(Strobl s2410)

This refined late drawing belongs to Klimt’s final cycle of female studies, produced during the years when his line had reached its greatest economy and expressive certainty. The model’s body, captured in a state of unguarded rest, is rendered with the characteristic softness of Klimt’s late pencil work: a few decisive contours define the reclining torso and the loosely gathered hair, while the shading remains minimal, allowing the figure to emerge almost weightlessly from the untouched paper. A patterned cloth, indicated with a handful of circular motifs, covers part of the lower body and introduces a gentle ornamental counterpoint to the otherwise spare composition — a device Klimt often used in his late drawings to stabilize the pose and provide a subtle decorative anchor.

The Nachlass stamp confirms the sheet’s posthumous authentication by the Klimt estate, a mark applied to works found in the artist’s studio after his death in 1918. Sheets of this type were frequently stored together, grouped by pose or model, reflecting Klimt’s habit of working through quiet variations on a single motif. Drawings from this period often relate to his final paintings and uncompleted projects, and they reveal his sustained preoccupation with the intimate, unposed female body — studies made not as preparatory exercises alone but as autonomous works of remarkable immediacy. The dating to circa 1914–1915 aligns with comparable sheets preserved in the Albertina, Vienna, and other major collections, where Klimt’s late graphic style is defined by its fluid contour, heightened sensuality, and a shift toward increasingly simplified, sculptural forms.

The figure’s closed eyes and relaxed posture reinforce the impression of inward retreat, a state Klimt returned to repeatedly in his final years. Unlike the more ornamental or erotically charged poses of his earlier work, this sheet conveys a quieter intimacy, grounded in the natural fall of the body and the unforced rhythm of the line. The absence of background, the sparing use of detail, and the asymmetry of the pose all contribute to a sense of immediacy and emotional quiet. It is precisely this balance — between formal clarity and psychological depth — that distinguishes Klimt’s late drawings and places them among the most affecting works of his graphic oeuvre.