Gustav Klimt - Bildnis Sonja Knips [1898] on Flickr.With the...

Gustav Klimt - Bildnis Sonja Knips [1898] on Flickr.

With the portrait of Sonja Knips Klimt comes to a turning point in Klimt’s oeuvre. It stands at the beginning to a series of portraits showing women of Viennese society. The want of representation of the upper class leads to a larger format. Sonja Knips (1873-1959) born Freifrau Potier des Echelles married 1896 the industrial tycoon Anton Knips and was one of the few aristocratic models of Klimt.

[Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna - Oil on canvas, 145 x 145 cm]