Klimt's last female portrait exhibited for the first time in Vienna after 100 years

It is the last female portrait that Gustav Klimt (Vienna, 1862 - 1918) executed in his career: the little-known but marvelous Lady with a Fan, which is being shown for the first time in twenty-nine years (but after more than a hundred years for the Austrian public), in an exhibition that traces the last stages of the Viennese painter’s career. Entitled Dame mit Fächer. Gustav Klimts letzte Werke (“Lady with a Fan. The Last Works of Gustav Klimt”), the exhibition, curated by Markus Fellinger, opens at the Galerie Belvedere in Vienna (where the world-famous Kiss is kept) from March 25, 2021 to February 13, 2022. One year, then, to see this rare masterpiece, painted between 1917 and 1918, and currently held in a private collection.

The painting is also one of two works photographed in Klimt’s studio immediately after his death in 1918 (the other is an unfinished work, The Bride). The chance to see Lady with a Fan is an important opportunity to enrich knowledge of Klimt’s work, and Galerie Belvedere is presenting it as part of an exhibition on the last Klimt. The Viennese artist began work on Lady with the Fan in 1917 and, except for a few details left unfinished, finished the painting the following year. Most of his paintings depict high society women, but in this case we do not know who the model is, who is presented as a beautiful and seductive woman, very confident (she was probably a dancer, according to the curator). It is a very naturalistic portrait, presenting us with the young woman’s bare shoulder, a silk oriental robe, and a fan covering her bare breasts.

Gustav Klimt, Lady with a Fan (1917-1918; oil on canvas; Private collection). Photo by Markus Guschelbauer

Klimt’s studio in 1918

The Lady with the Fan was exhibited only once in history in Austria, at the Kunstschau in Vienna in 1920. Austrian audiences therefore have not seen it for more than 100 years, but exhibitions of Klimt’s last work can still be counted on the fingers of one hand: in addition to the 1920 exhibition, there is one in Tokyo in 1981, and a third, the last, in Krakow in 1992. This is therefore a rare opportunity for the public, who will have the chance to see the Lady with the Fan along with a nucleus of works by the last Klimt, including The Bride, the portrait of Amalie Zuckerkandl, Adam and Eve, and the Lady in White. The museum has already let it be known that there will be news in October: a chapter will be added that will delve into Klimt’s interests in Far Eastern art and analyze how the latter influenced his production.

The exhibition can be accessed with a full-price ticket of 16 euros, reduced over-65 and under-26 tickets from 13.50 euros, reduced for Vienna City Card holders 14.50 euros, reduced for the disabled 3 euros, free for children under 19. For more information and details you can visit the Galerie Belvedere website.

Klimt's last female portrait exhibited for the first time in Vienna after 100 years

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