Description

Madame d’Ora / Dora Kallmus & Arthur Benda, Gustav Klimt, Vienna 1908, 19,7 x 15,4 cm (7,8 x 6,1 in), Signed and dated by the photographers in pencil on the mount, the studio’s blindstamp in the image lower left

Condition

This portrait of Gustav Klimt is an early image by Dora Kallmus and Arthur Benda. It was taken one year after the opening of their studio in Wipplingerstraße 24-26, situated in the first district of Vienna. In contrast to Moriz Nähr’s portraits of Klimt, who therefore visited the artist at his workshop, this is a classical studio portrait. It shows the painter at age 45, in a serious, contemplative pose and was taken in 1908, the year the Secession artists organised their first »Internationale Kunstschau«. It’s possible that Klimt commissioned a portrait for this purpose. The rare vintage print is offered the first time at an auction.