Dancing Woman with Cape

The young woman has been captured in a moment of ecstasy. As in many other works by the painter, the closed eyes add to the impression of dreamy sensuality. Klimt drew over a thousand nudes, which lay scattered on his studio floor for weeks and months. They were not all independent, unrelated depictions, however. His great interest in female forms meant that he had a whole horde of models, always at his beck and call. A constant stream of changing attitudes and gestures, sometimes with pieces of clothing which did more to reveal than conceal the model, resulted in a deluge of erotic pictures. Yet it is also true that Klimt always kept the purpose of this work in mind and many studies resulted in paintings. The erotic side of Klimt’s drawings did not arise purely from the subject matter but is also expressed in the dynamic outlines of his nudes and the creases and ripples of their garments. It is especially the late drawings that account for his world acclaim as a draughtsman.