Klimt's Studies for the Allegory "Love"

In the study for the child's face, Klimt's main concern was dreamy seriousness. He employed the pencil in a variety of ways.

The sharp countour lines of her cheeks cause the girl's round, gently modeled face to shine out.

Klimt effectively contrasted the broad chaplet of the child's delicately braided hair with the dark background constructed of vertical parallel hatching. At the same time, he used the vertical structure as a new means to fix the strictly frontal portrait within the plane.

The white accents in the face and quickly sketched clothing add to the visionary effect of this study, which, beyond the limits of its purpose, has the character of a self-contained, autonomous work of art.

The study of the bald, cross-eyed old man was also used for the upper area of the picture containing the stages of life. Here, the carefully studied facial features are even more repulsive. As in the study of the child, Klimt was concerned with a specific human type in this drawing.

The name and address of the model, as in several other cases, were noted directly on the sheet.

Again, he took the visionary lighting of the painting into account through the subtle use of white highlights.