Gustav Klimt’s Portrait of Johanna Staude (1917–1918)

New Insights into the Subject and her Portrait’s Creation

Abstract

Academic researchers have long neglected investigating the female models depicted in the paintings of the principal artists of the Vienna Secession. A prominent example is Portrait of Johanna Staude, painted by Gustav Klimt in 1917–1918 and held in the collection of the Belvedere. When the work was acquired from the then 80-year old sitter in 1963, the museum did not make a comprehensive record of her life. Thus, Staude’s biography and the circumstances leading to the portrait’s creation remained largely unexplored. For the first time, this paper presents new insights into the subject, gained via intensive communication with the heirs of Johanna Staude’s estate and subsequent research into this material. This has enabled me to update and expand upon the facts of her life, while also shedding light on her family’s strong links to the art world and her own role in the Vienna art scene. I go on to stress that Klimt’s regular practice of resorting to anonymous models for his portraits of fashionable ladies suggests that this work is not a commissioned portrait. Finally, based on the example of Johanna Staude, I confirm the hypothesis that these fashionable portraits are realistic rather than fictional. Overall, this paper aims to promote a more comprehensive understanding of Gustav Klimt’s method.