Max Klinger (1857-1920)
Weiblicher Akt mit Faun, or Female nude with faun
Pen and black ink, signed with initials and dated 'MK 7.Aug 89' in the lower left corner, indistinctly numbered in the upper right corner [?]'XXXXI', image 290 x 182 mm (11 3/8 x 7 1/4 in), under glass, repaired tear to the centre left edge running into the image, scattered spotting, light browning and minor surface dirt, framed by Simon Cooper, 1889

⁂ Max Klinger, born into an upper-middle-class family in Leipzig, emerged as one of the most erudite and cultured artists of his era. His intellectual pursuits spanned a wide range of disciplines, from literature and philosophy to music and various forms of visual arts. While his artistic talent shone through in both sculpture and painting, it was his engravings and etchings that defined his legacy and produced his most celebrated masterpieces.

A powerful drawing, presumably a study for a print, exploring Klinger’s fascination with the social issues of moral decay that defined modern life. Other fantastical erotic nudes by Klinger that compare closely with the present drawing include Seated Nude Woman Beckoning a Dancing Phallus, executed in 1882 [cf. ‘Max Klinger 1857-1920’, Frankfurt, Städtische Galerie im Städelschen Kunstinstitut 1992, p. 299, No. 85].