Portrait of Maria Munk (unfinished) 1918

Gustav Klimt made this unfinished portrait of Maria Munk with oil on canvas. The composition is a flurry of floral patterns. Notice the underdrawing, a tangle of ochre lines sketching out the figure beneath the blooms, implying Klimt’s artmaking process. This adds to the visual texture of the surface. There is a tension here between the flat, decorative backdrop and the emerging figure. The face is rendered with delicate brushstrokes, yet the body remains veiled by the artist's initial sketch. The pale blue dabs on her torso act as a kind of road map, indicating where Klimt might have been heading, creating a wonderful contrast with the pinks, reds and purples of the surrounding flowers. For me, this piece resonates with the work of artists like Cecily Brown, who similarly layer and excavate their surfaces. It reminds us that paintings are not just images, but palimpsests of artistic thought, constantly evolving.