Portrait of Johanna Staude

The Portrait of Johanna Staude (1917–1918), an unfinished masterpiece by Gustav Klimt, manifests the pinnacle of his career as a portraitist. Johanna Staude, an Austrian divorcée and a language teacher by profession, was also a daring model for artists like Egon Schiele. She later identified as a painter, though none of her works are recognized. This Art nouveau (modern) painting reveals a self-assured, intellectual post-war woman boldly facing the viewer with a trendy short hairstyle and a black feather boa. The Österreichische Galerie Belvedere has been this painting's home since 1963.