Provenance:          Neal Adair Prince Trust u/a/d 10.18.1999

Mr. Neal Prince

Mr. Neal Prince and Mr. Herbert Waide Hemphill, Jr.

Dusseldorf Print Shop

Provenance:          The above item was purchased from a Dusseldorf Print Shop, in 1964 and has not been altered by Mr. Prince. The Trust will not unframed the artwork which will allow the Trust to determine this portfolio page number, as represented from the 300 editions issued by the Galerie Miethke, in Vienna.

Footnote ¹:           The set was released in groups of 10 images, including 2 color masterpieces, every 18 months starting in 1908. Subsequently known as The Miethke set, the above collotype is number __/300 ². The Gallery Miethke in Vienna was The Pioneering "Art House" where Gustav Klimt was exclusively represented. The portfolio of fifty prints, ten of which are multicolor, was printed in five parts. The prints in "Das Werk Gustav Klimts" depict Klimt's most important paintings from 1898 to 1913. Klimt closely supervised production of the portfolio, which was overseen by the prestigious Galerie Miethke, his exclusive retail outlet in Vienna. A complete set of “Das Werk Gustav Klimts” (the Work of Gustav Klimt) contained 50 prints on heavy wove paper with deckled edges. Issued unbound, the prints were divided into five groups of ten, each group including two multicolored images. Groups were published separately over a period of six years and sold only by subscription through the publisher, H.O. Miethke. The prints depict Klimt's most important paintings dating from between 1898 and 1913. Because Klimt personally supervised the project and insisted on the proper resolution of technical problems, the 50-print project, which was undertaken by early 1908, was not completed until 1914. “Das Werk Gustav Klimts” demonstrates the remarkable ability of the collotype process to render gradations of tone, color and texture. All sheets and most of the images are in a square format, with the remainder in the narrow rectangle format derived from Japanese paintings and woodblock pillar prints. Klimt designed a unique signet for each print, to be centered beneath the image and impressed in gold ink. The first group of 10 images were released, including 2 color masterpieces were offered in June 1908, which this group included depictions of three state-commissioned paintings that had been declared pornographic and led to Klimt's "exile" from the world of public art eight years earlier. The Gallery Miethke in Vienna was The Pioneering "Art House" where Gustav Klimt was exclusively represented. The prints in "Das Werk Gustav Klimts" depict Klimt's most important paintings from 1898 to 1913. Klimt closely supervised production of the portfolio, which was overseen by the prestigious Galerie Miethke, his exclusive retail outlet in Vienna. The final installment of “Das Werk Gustav Klimts” became available in 1914.

Footnote ²:            Artwork was acquired already framed from the Dusseldorf Print Shop, in 1964. The item has been authenticated while the item remained framed. However, the Trust will maintain the artwork in its original frame until otherwise disclosed.

Footnote ³:            The original artwork was from Oil on Canvas 430 x 300 cm. was destroyed by fire at the Schloss Immendorf in 1945 by the German military during World War II.

Footnote 4:            Collotype is a dichromate-based photographic process originated in Germany circa 1868 and was used for large volume mechanical printing before the existence of cheaper offset lithography. It can produce results difficult to distinguish from metal-based photographic prints because of its microscopically fine reticulations which comprise the image. Many old postcards are collotypes. While no longer a commercial process. The collotype plate is made by coating a plate of glass or metal with a substrate composed of gelatin or other colloid and hardening it. Then it is coated with a thick coat of dichromated gelatine and dried carefully at a controlled temperature so it 'reticulates' or breaks up into a finely grained pattern when washed later in approximately 16 °C water. The plate is then exposed in contact with the negative using an ultraviolet (UV) light source which changes the ability of the exposed gelatine to absorb water later. The plate is developed by carefully washing out the dichromate salt and dried without heat. The plate is left in a cool dry place to cure for 24 hours before using it to print. To produce prints, the plate is dampened with a glycerine/water mixture which is slightly acidic, then blotted before inking with collotype ink using a leather or velvet roller. A hard finished paper such as Bristol, is then put on top of the plate and covered with a tympan before being printed typically using a hand proof press. Collotypes are printed using less pressure than is used in printing intaglio, or stone lithography. While it is possible to print by hand using a roller or brayer, an acceptable consistency of pressure and even distribution of ink is most effectively achieved using a press. This feature also played a significant role in the story of Nazi attempts to forge the American dollar bill. A group of inmates at the Sachsenhausen concentration camp who were forced to make the phony bills with which the Nazis hoped to debase the Allies' currency. The inmates' delaying tactics endangered their lives, but also contributed to the Nazi's defeat.

Gustav Klimt (1862-1918), Austrian

Gustav Klimt was born at the XIV district of Baumgarten, in Vienna on July 14, 1862. He was a son of a gold engraver. In 1876, Mr. Klimt began his studies at the Vienna Kunstgewerbeschule under the influence of the history painter, Hans Makart, which was apparent in his first orders for theatre decorations and ceiling paintings. Soon Mr. Klimt received prizes for his various works. At the turn of the century - he was just designing wall and ceiling decorations for the University which he developed a new two-dimensionally-ornamental, decorative style, which combines naturalistic details of bodies with abstract, colourful, mosaic-like patterns. The University protested resolutely and legal proceedings erupted. In 1905 Klimt was allowed to keep the designs in return of his payment. At the same time the Vienna Secession emerged and Klimt was a founding member. He was the First President from 1897 to 1905. In 1902 Klimt executed the famous Beethoven frieze for Josef Maria Olbrich's Secession building. In 1905 Klimt and a group of like-minded people left the Secession due to conflicts with the artist association's naturalistic wing. Mr. Klimt's motifs were partly provocatively erotic, partly playfully ornamental. He created impressing portraits, especially of ladies from the Viennese high society, but also intensively dense landscape paintings. Like no other artist and as the favorite of certain circles of the Viennese Society of the ending monarchy, he was able to depict the spirit of the feudal bourgeoisie with its aspirations to cultivate the aesthetic and its yearning for the pleasures of life at the Fin-de-Siècle. In 1908, Mr. Klimt undertook an the collotype project, being a limited edition titled “Das Werk Gustav Klimts”, but was not completed until 1914. Mr. Klimt travelled extensively - one of his most important works is not in Austria, but in Brussels: he executed the decoration of the dining room in Josef Hoffmann's Palais Stoclet, a Gesamtkunstwerk of Viennese Art Nouveau. The Artist's International approval was proven by numerous exhibitions and finally honored him: Mr. Klimt became honorary member of the Academies in Vienna and Munich. Mr. Klimt died from a stroke in his hometown Vienna in 1918.