Hermine Gallia

c. 1904

Hermine Gallia, c. 1904. Gustav Klimt (Austrian, 1862–1918). Black chalk with graphite on light brown laid paper; sheet: 45.6 x 31.2 cm (17 15/16 x 12 5/16 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift of Henry H. Hawley 1972.312 Gustav Klimt created this drawing in preparation for a painted portrait, now in the collection of the National Gallery, London. Both depict Hermine Gallia, née Hamburger, who belonged to a wealthy Jewish family in Vienna. Through vanguard circles in the city, she met the artist and commissioned a canvas of her own likeness. This sheet may have been drawn from life, given its loose and sketchlike facture, seemingly meant to quickly record Gallia's form on the elaborate white dress in which she posed. This drawing is one of about 40 drawings made by Gustav Klimt for his painted portrait of Hermine Gallia.