In 1912, Viennese businessman Alexander Munk and his wife Aranka commissioned Gustav Klimt to paint a posthumous portrait of their daughter, Ria. Klimt’s first attempt to fulfill the commission was rejected by the Munks. According to one theory, The Dancer is a reworked version of Klimt’s second effort.

In this canvas, the figure and the background meld together almost seamlessly in a complex layering of floral ornament. The woman’s kimono links the lush bouquet of anemones on the table with the mosaic-like aureole of flowers behind her. As a result, the background and foreground appear to merge on the surface, flattening the impression of the composition. The lower third of the painting remains incomplete. Klimt’s preliminary drawing in charcoal remains partially visible and the painting was unfinished at the time of his death in 1918. Nonetheless, The Dancer remains one of Klimt’s most complex and intriguing compositions. It was the first Klimt painting to travel to the United States and was exhibited at the New York branch of the Wiener Werkstätte (Vienna Workshops) when it opened on Fifth Avenue in 1922.

This work is featured in “Austrian Masterworks from the Neue Galerie.”