Gustav Klimt & Ernst Klimt:
Head of a Girl Facing Forward, Turned Slightly to the Left (Mädchenkopf von vorne mit leichter Drehung nach links), 1882
Black chalk on paper
45 x 31.3 cm
Albertina Museum, Vienna
(Strobl 35)

Long before the world would know his name, a twenty-year-old Gustav Klimt was already pulling a bit of magic out of a simple piece of black chalk. This 1882 portrait, tucked away in the Albertina Museum, captures the very moment his raw, youthful talent began to push bit by bit through the strict boundaries of his art school training.

A Studio Shared by Brothers

This drawing is a remarkable artifact of a short-lived family alliance. Gustav shared a studio and an intense creative bond with his younger brother, Ernst, while they conquered the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts. Both brothers put their hands to this sheet of paper, leaving a double signature: Gustav claimed the middle left, while Ernst proudly stamped his name and the date 1882 on the right. Their model was no stranger, but their twenty-two-year-old older sister, Klara Klimt, captured in a rare moment of stillness.

Weapons of Precision

The level of control in this portrait is breathtaking. Working purely with black chalk, the brothers didn’t just sketch a face; they sculpted light and skin. Look at the incredibly soft transitions across her cheeks, the dense texture of her dark curls, and the fragile lace collar tracing her neck. Every stroke is steady, confident, and deeply rooted in the historicist style of late 19th-century Vienna, showing that both Klimt brothers possessed total technical mastery from the very beginning.

Hidden in Viennese Vaults

The journey of this paper reads like a map of Vienna’s elite art circles. For decades, it was a prized possession of the wealthy industrialist Franz Trau the Elder, later passing down to his son. When the legendary Trau collection was split apart at auction during the turbulent years of 1934, the portrait vanished into private hands. It finally resurfaced in 1937, saved for the public when the Albertina Museum stepped in to purchase it through an attorney named Dr. Heinrich Herbatschek.