(Vienna 1862–1918)
Margaret Stonborough-Wittgenstein, 1905, study for the painting (Novotny-Dobai no. 142/Weidinger no. 179), signed Gustav Klimt, red coloured pencil on paper, 55 x 34 cm, framed, (K)

Alice Strobl, Gustav Klimt, Die Zeichnungen 1904–1912, vol. II, publisher Galerie Welz, Salzburg 1982, p. 38, no. 1261, ill. p. 39

Provenance:
Private Collection
L’Art Ancien, Zurich
Private Collection, Salzburg
Private Collection, Italy

The oil painting is owned by Neue Pinakothek, Munich

About the signature - Alice Strobl, vol. IV, p. 214
Klimt took a further step in the direction of the oval signature in 1905 in a letter to the Ministry of Culture and Education, in that he signed his first and last name more clearly above and below each other, combining them into a unified field. This also applied to Klimt’s signature on the entrance card to the Imperial Royal Austrian Exhibition in London in 1906 as well as for that on a study (cat. no. II/1261) for the portrait of Margaret Stonborough-Wittgenstein of 1905. This drawing remained in the possession of the family for a very long time, as did two others-one with a monogram (cat. no. II/1273), the other with a block signature (cat. no. II/1274). This allows for the conclusion that Klimt signed the sheets very soon after the creation of the portrait. This is in contrast to the oval signature on cat. no. IV/3302, a sheet which was created in around 1894 in connection with the painting ‘Schubert at the piano I’, but which was first signed in around 1906. All of these drawings are of very high quality, to which Klimt wished to append an additional accent with his signature.