Pale Face

This painting is among the most enigmatic in Klimt's oeuvre and firmly in the Symbolist tradition. An unidentified woman is shown in partial profile and cloaked in black. Her hair, hat, and garment flow seamlessly together in a sinuous swathe of dark oil paint. Her closed eyes are a cue that she is resting in quiet contemplation while sitting on a chair or settee, the contours of which are conveyed by the off-white shape in the lower right corner of the canvas. Her pale face is sharply defined by a pointy nose and firm chin, but her pink lips hint at a latent sensuality beneath her melancholic appearance. A curling tendril that has escaped her coiffure gently frames her face and softens the overall impression. This painting confirms Klimt's familiarity with the Dutch artist Jan Toorop, whose work was shown in Vienna on several occasions between 1899 and 1902. The snippet of a checkerboard pattern visible in the upper right corner underscores Klimt's ties with the Vienna Secession and its modernist protagonists.