Description
Friederike Maria Beer is the 1916 portrait in which Gustav Klimt sets a young Viennese woman in a boldly patterned jacket in front of a crowded East Asian battle scene full of riders, spears and banners. The original hangs in the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. We paint it by hand in oil on canvas, in seven upright sizes from 30 x 40 to 120 x 160 cm or to your own measurement.
| Title: | Friederike Maria Beer |
| Other titles: | Portrait of Friederike Maria Beer · Ritratto di Friederike Maria Beer |
| Painter: | Gustav Klimt (1862–1918) |
| Year painted: | 1916 |
| Original size: | 168 cm x 130 cm |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Vienna Secession |
| Located at: | Tel Aviv Museum of Art (Mizne-Blumental Collection), Tel Aviv |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, seven upright sizes or made to measure |
Friederike Maria Beer – Gustav Klimt
What does the painting show?
A young woman stands facing us, shown from her head to below the knee. Her dark hair is pinned up, her face is pale and calm, and she wears a long jacket covered in a dense pattern of zig-zags and lozenges in black, white and bright colours, over a patterned dress.
Behind her, filling the canvas right up to the top edge, a battle is raging: East Asian warriors on horseback with spears and banners, painted in red, green, yellow and warm ochre-brown. The quiet figure in front and the crowded scene behind make a striking contrast, and that tension is what gives this portrait its pull.
What is the story of the inside-out jacket?
Her fashionable jacket was made by Eduard Josef Wisgrill from a silk with the pattern called Marina, designed by the Viennese designer Dagobert Peche. Klimt asked her to wear the jacket inside out, and it is this reversed garment, with its restless zig-zag pattern, that we see on the canvas.
Behind her Klimt painted a Korean battle scene, in keeping with the many East Asian influences in his work. The two layers of pattern, the jacket and the warriors, almost merge, yet the face and hands stay calm and lifelike. For a buyer this means a portrait that reads as a person from close up and as a field of colour from across the room.
What does the portrait mean?
It is one of the masterpieces of Klimt’s last years and a synthesis of ornament and realism. The face is painted with care and real presence, while everything around it dissolves into pattern: the jacket, the dress and the battle behind her. Klimt uses no gold here; the warmth comes from ochre, red and yellow.
The painting shows a young woman of Vienna in 1916, dressed in fashionable clothes, standing calmly in front of a scene of war and movement. Whatever meaning you read into that contrast, the effect on a wall is energetic and elegant at once, which is why the portrait works in modern and classic homes alike.
Who was Friederike Maria Beer, and where is the painting now?
Friederike Maria Beer (1891–1980) was a young Viennese woman active in the art world of her day. Klimt painted her in 1916, two years before his death; the original is an oil on canvas, 168 cm high and 130 cm wide. More about the painter’s life is on Wikipedia.
Today the portrait belongs to the Mizne-Blumental Collection of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in Israel. If you plan a visit, check the museum’s website first, because works are sometimes moved or lent. Our version is not a print: it is painted for you, by hand, in the size you choose.
Friederike Maria Beer among Klimt’s late portraits
In his last years Klimt painted women in strong colour against crowded, patterned backgrounds, and our gallery lets you compare them. The closest relative is the Portrait of Baroness Elisabeth Bachofen-Echt, a tall full-length portrait in white in front of a blue-violet wall filled with small East Asian figures. The Portrait of Johanna Staude, Lady with a Fan and Portrait of Fräulein Lieser belong to the same late, colourful period.
Which to choose? Take Friederike Maria Beer if you want a vivid, warm painting full of movement, with a figure shown to the knee and a dense battle behind her; take Elisabeth Bachofen-Echt if you prefer a calmer, taller figure in white against cool blue. The two also hang well side by side as a pair.
How do we paint Friederike Maria Beer by hand?
The painter first draws the figure and the main lines of the battle, so that the standing pose, the tilt of the head and the riders behind her sit as in the original. Then the background is built up: horses, spears, banners and faces, each figure laid in with its own colour, because the scene is what gives the painting its energy.
Next comes the jacket, stroke by stroke, with its zig-zags and lozenges kept crisp and lively, and finally the face and hands, modelled slowly until they look calm and alive in front of all that movement. A printed oil painting reproduction cannot show the texture of these layers; by hand, every stroke keeps its relief. Every painting is a hand-painted copy made for your order, so no two are ever quite the same.
There is no gold in this portrait, so we work only with oil colours: the warm ochres, reds and yellows of the battle and the black and white of the jacket.
Which size for which wall?
Short answer: 30 x 40 or 40 x 50 cm for a small wall, a hallway or beside a bed, 50 x 65 or 60 x 80 cm above a sideboard or a desk, 80 x 100 cm above a sofa, 100 x 130 cm for a large living room wall and 120 x 160 cm for an open-plan space or a staircase.
All seven sizes are upright: 30 x 40, 40 x 50, 50 x 65, 60 x 80, 80 x 100, 100 x 130 and 120 x 160 cm. The sizes 50 x 65 and 100 x 130 cm have exactly the proportion of the original; the others differ only slightly. Because the battle scene is full of detail, as a painting for the living room 100 x 130 cm lets you follow the riders even from the sofa.
Hang it with the centre of the canvas about 150 to 160 cm above the floor; above furniture, leave 20 to 30 cm between the top of the piece and the lower edge of the canvas.
Custom size, stretcher and frame
If none of the seven sizes fits your wall, we paint it to measure. Send us the width and height you want and we will quote a price and a lead time. Every painting we make is stretched over a wooden stretcher and ready to hang.
For the moulding, use our 3D application: it shows every one of our frame profiles on this subject, so you can compare gold, silver, black, white and natural wood before deciding – the application is for choosing the frame only. If you would like to see how the painting will look on your own wall, that is our separate room placement service. A warm gold frame picks up the ochre and yellow of the battle; a black frame echoes the black-and-white pattern of the jacket; natural wood softens the whole.
Delivery and guarantee
Every painting is made to order in our studio in Slovenia, so allow 15 to 45 days depending on the size you choose. We ship it stretched and protected for transport, framed if you chose a frame, across the EU with no customs. Before dispatch you receive a photograph of the finished work to approve; if anything is not right, we correct it while the canvas is still in our workshop. Our returns policy applies to every order.
If it is a present and you do not know the right size, there is a wall art voucher. Every other Klimt work we paint is in the Gustav Klimt gallery, and there is more on the painter in our article ten interesting facts about Gustav Klimt.
Frequently asked questions
Where is the original portrait of Friederike Maria Beer?
The original is in the Tel Aviv Museum of Art in Israel, in its Mizne-Blumental Collection. It is an oil on canvas from 1916, 168 cm high and 130 cm wide. If you plan a visit, check the museum’s website first, because not every painting is on display every day. Our version, painted by hand, can hang on your own wall.
Who was Friederike Maria Beer?
She was a young Viennese woman, born in 1891, who was active in the art world of her day and lived until 1980. Klimt painted her in 1916, when she was about 25. Today most people know her through this portrait: a calm young woman in a boldly patterned jacket in front of a crowded battle scene.
Why is Friederike Maria Beer wearing her jacket inside out?
Because Klimt asked her to. The fashionable jacket was made by Eduard Josef Wisgrill from a silk patterned with Dagobert Peche’s design Marina, and Klimt had her wear it reversed. The result is the restless zig-zag pattern that fills the lower part of the canvas and almost merges with the battle behind her.
What is the battle scene behind Friederike Maria Beer?
It is a Korean battle scene, which Klimt painted in keeping with the many East Asian influences in his work. Warriors on horseback with spears and banners fill the whole background up to the top edge. Their red, green, yellow and ochre tones give the portrait its warmth and a sense of movement around the calm figure.
When did Klimt paint Friederike Maria Beer?
In 1916, two years before his death in 1918. It is one of the masterpieces of his last years, painted with strong colour rather than the gold of his earlier portraits. The portrait combines a lifelike face with pattern everywhere else, a synthesis of ornament and realism typical of this late period.
Which size of Friederike Maria Beer suits my wall?
For a small wall or a hallway, choose 30 x 40 or 40 x 50 cm. Above a sideboard or desk, 50 x 65 or 60 x 80 cm works well, above a sofa 80 x 100 cm, and for a large wall 100 x 130 or 120 x 160 cm. The sizes 50 x 65 and 100 x 130 cm have exactly the proportion of the original.
Which room suits Friederike Maria Beer?
It suits a living room, a dining room, a study or an entrance hall, anywhere you want strong colour and a confident figure. As a canvas painting it looks especially good on white, cream or warm grey walls and next to dark wood or black furniture. In a hallway choose 50 x 65 cm; above a sofa, 80 x 100 cm.
Is Friederike Maria Beer a good gift?
Yes, for anyone who loves Klimt, Vienna around 1900, fashion or bold colour. The portrait is lively without being heavy, and the reversed jacket makes it a talking point for guests. If you are unsure of the size, 50 x 65 cm is a safe choice with the exact proportion of the original, or give a voucher so they can choose.
How does Friederike Maria Beer differ from Elisabeth Bachofen-Echt?
Friederike Maria Beer is warmer and busier: a figure shown to the knee in a zig-zag jacket before a dense battle scene. Elisabeth Bachofen-Echt is a calmer, taller full-length figure in white against a blue-violet wall of small figures. Both are late portraits with East Asian backgrounds, so they also hang well together as a pair.
- Subject: a young Viennese woman in a jacket worn inside out, with a zig-zag pattern, in front of a Korean battle scene.
- Original: 1916, oil on canvas, 168 x 130 cm, Tel Aviv Museum of Art.
- Ours: a Klimt reproduction painted by hand in oil on canvas, in seven upright sizes or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: you receive a photograph of the finished work for approval before dispatch.
