(Grembergen-lez-Termonde 1858-1921)
Young woman with a cane, standing next to a balustrade, study for the etching "La Balle d'Or" (1898), titled by the artist on the reverse, signed Fernand Khnopff, pencil and coloured chalks on cardboard, 16,7 x 7,8 cm, browned (light-bleaching), mounted, unframed, (Sch)

Provenance:
Collection Archduke Francis Joseph of Austria-Tuscany (1905-1975), Hernstein (his stamp "Franz Josef'scher Besitz, Revier Steinhof, Post Berndorf, Niederösterreich Austria" and stamp "Collection Privée de S. A. I. & R. L'ARCHDUC FRANCOIS-JOSEPH" on the reverse;
Private collection, Austria.

Compare:
For the etching see: Robert L. Delevoy, Catherine De Croes, Gisèle Ollinger-Zinque, Fernand Khnopff, Brüssel 1979, Cat. No. 311, p. 309-310, fig. p. 310; H. Fierens-Gevaert, "Fernand Khnopff", in: Art et Décoration, Paris, October 1898, p. 123; V. Pica, "Artisti contemporanei: Fernand Khnopff, in: Emporium, Bergamo, September 1902, Vol. XVI, No. 93, p. 188, fig. p. 182.

The present drawing is a preliminary study for the rare etching by Fernand Khnopff titled "La Balle d'Or" oder"La boule d'or", which the artist made in 1898. The drawing appears mirror-inverted to the etching and stylistically corresponds with the artist’s work from that time. The print is of utmost rarity and may have been printed in a small edition. One print is preserved in the collection of Hélène Khnopff, Brüssel (comp. Cat. Khnopff, Brussels 1979, p.309).

The drawing will be included in the artist’s archive and will be edited in the catalogue raisonné of the artist’s oeuvre which is in preparation by Gisèle Ollinger-Zinque as Nr. 311 BIS

We are grateful to Dr. Gisèle Ollinger-Zinque for the confirmation of the attribution by means of a high resolution digital photograph and for the scientific support.