The Laughing Lady

Pencil on paper

Actual: 29.5 x 21cm (h x w)

Loose sheet

Signed Lower right

Description:

Acquired from the ex-Durand Ruell Gallery dealer Gill Romero, Montparnasse, Paris, a minor dealer to the post-impressionists and modern artists of the time, Gill amassed a vast collection of works on paper directly from the artists themselves or amongst other dealers of the time.

This work attributed to the Austrian symbolist Gustav Klimt may appear to have an interesting history. My initial approach to this work was cautious with the need for meticulous research due to the Nazi Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg (ERR) stamp on Verso due to the systemic looting of art held in Jewish collections. There are no records of this work in any art loss or registered databases.

The known work is from the Laughing Lady series 1896 catalogue Raisonne Vol 1 no.274. It is referenced in email correspondence with Dr. Miriam Bisanz, a world-leading authority on the works of Gustav Klimt. She mentioned that this is indeed part of his rare early drawings that were revisited in his later years, but she believes it to be a work after Klimt, which she has never seen before so early in his career. Dr. Bisanz pointed out that the teeth were drawn on, which led me to consider whether they could have been added by Nazi personnel who, for a laugh, thought it was so "degenerative" that the stamp on the verso was red and not the blue ERR stamp associated with works acquired for Nazis. I believe this may have potential merit. This has recently been forwarded to Dr. Bisanz for further consideration and I am currently awaiting her reply.