Two Women Friends Reclining 1900 - 1910

Gustav Klimt made this drawing of two women friends reclining, in pencil on paper. Look closely at the lines, tentative and searching, mapping the contours of the figures. You can imagine Klimt hovering over the paper, gently coaxing these forms into being. What was he thinking about? The intimacy of these women, their ease with one another. He wasn’t interested in a perfect likeness. Instead, he wanted to capture a mood, a feeling of closeness and vulnerability. The way the lines overlap and intersect creates a kind of visual buzzing. Klimt’s drawings remind me that paintings aren’t just about what we see but how we see. It’s like he’s inviting us into his thought process. Artists are constantly riffing off each other, borrowing ideas, and pushing boundaries. Klimt learned from the past, but he wasn’t afraid to experiment and break the rules. In the end, a painting is an invitation to slow down, look closely, and let your imagination wander.