Gustav KlimtAustrian, 1862–1918Hermine Gallia
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Hermine Gallia” now? Collection: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Cleveland, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
About the work
Gustav Klimt created this drawing in preparation for a painted portrait, now in the collection of the National Gallery, London. Both depict Hermine Gallia, née Hamburger, who belonged to a wealthy Jewish family in Vienna. Through vanguard circles in the city, she met the artist and commissioned a canvas of her own likeness. This sheet may have been drawn from life, given its loose and sketchlike facture, seemingly meant to quickly record Gallia's form on the elaborate white dress in which she posed.
The Cleveland Museum of Art
Details
- Accession number
- 1972.312
In the catalog
Sources
- The Cleveland Museum of Art
- Image: The Cleveland Museum of Art — Museum open access
In the life of Gustav Klimt
The whole life1897–1917
Society portraits of Viennese ladies
Over twenty years Klimt painted nearly twenty society portraits of women, which gave him financial independence; Carl Moll introduced him to many of the sitters, most of them from the Jewish upper bourgeoisie. In the portraits the ladies are hidden in sumptuous clothing, their heads and hands seeming to float detached from reality.
1900–1907
He returns the advance and keeps the paintings
The state commission refused to accept the three “Faculty Paintings”; Klimt told the minister he would return the 60,000-krone advance, refused to work for the Austrian state again and kept the pictures. The ministry demanded them, but Klimt did not open the door to the removal men — and the affair ended in his victory.
1902
Son born: Otto Zimmermann
1903
His first solo show at the Secession
The Secession's first solo exhibition was devoted to Klimt and proved exceptionally successful: the artist earned 36,000 kronen.
1905
Klimt and his group leave the Secession
Klimt and his “stylist” followers, who held that art should enter every sphere of life, fell out with the “naturalists”; the decision against Klimt's group was carried by a single vote. For the next three years the group had no joint exhibitions.
1906
The “Kunstschau” group
A year after the split Klimt formed the “Kunstschau” group, or “Klimt group”, which included Carl Moll, Otto Wagner and other leading Austrian artists.
