Girl's Head Turned Left

Against a dark green background, a girl with long, reddish hair turns her face to the left. Her blue eyes and red lips stand out within the subdued tones, and a necklace of white beads gleams at her chest. Her clothing is a gray-blue, and fine ornament can be seen at the collar. It is oil on canvas, a small picture measuring 24.0 x 16.8 cm.

According to the museum's commentary, at this time Klimt ran the "Company of Artists" together with his brother Ernst and the painter Franz Matsch, and they produced decorative paintings on the walls and ceilings of buildings in Vienna such as the Burgtheater, the Villa Hermes, and the Kunsthistorisches Museum.

Although it is a small work from his youth, the museum says one can sense in it the first signs of the decorative quality that would later characterize Klimt's paintings. Klimt was born in 1862 and later founded the Vienna Secession.