Portrait of Fritza Riedler, 1906

In his Portrait of Fritza Riedler, Klimt further develops the deliberate tension between the naturalism and three dimensional depiction of the face and the hands and the surrounding flat and geometric decorative elements that seem to imprison the figure.

The elliptical “eye” motif, which may be seen as symbolically representing the female sex organ, would become a constant feature of Klimt’s work over the next few years. The spatially ambiguous semi-circular mosaic panel behind Fritza Riedler’s head draws attention to her face and also makes witty reference to the elaborate headdresses of the Spanish Habsburg princesses in the famous Velázquez portraits in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. This portrait is yet another example of Klimt’s creative and brilliant eclecticism. We have an unlikely but highly successful fusion of elements taken from Spanish Baroque painting, Byzantine mosaics, Japanese wood block prints and in some of the geometric decoration, ancient Greek art.