The artist's sister, Hermine Klimt;

with The Galerie St. Etienne, New York, by 1983,

Private collection, USA,

thence by descent

A. Strobl, Gustav Klimt, Die Zeichnungen, Nachtrag 1878-1918, vol. IV, Saꩵlzburg 1989, p. 44, no. 3281a, p🥂. 45, fig. 3281a, reproduced

This handsome sheet can be dated to circa 1882-83 when the young Klimt was commissioned, alongside his brother, Ernst, and Franz Matsch, to paint five ceiling paintings and a stage curtain for the newly built municipal theater in Reichenberg. Strobl notes that the present work is possibly a study for the lower lunette of the aforementioned theater curtain. A highly similar sheet by Klimt, most recently held in a private collection, Vienna,¹ can be closely compared to our drawing bo🗹th on stylistic grounds as well as the distinctiꦰve inscription by the artist's sister, Hermine, that adorns the lower right corner of both works.

¹Strobl, op.cit., p. 44, no. 3281, p. 45, fig. 3281, reproduced