Description
Lady with a Feather Hat is Gustav Klimt’s portrait of 1910 of a red-haired young woman under a huge black feathered hat, her chin resting on her hand, painted in loose, quick strokes against a light background. The original is in a private collection. We paint it by hand in oil on canvas, in eight upright sizes from 40 x 50 to 120 x 150 cm or to your own measurement.
| Title: | Lady with a Feather Hat |
| Other titles: | The Black Feathered Hat · Dame mit Federhut · Signora con cappello di piume |
| Painter: | Gustav Klimt (1862–1918) |
| Year painted: | 1910 |
| Original size: | 79 cm x 63 cm |
| Original technique: | Oil on canvas |
| Painting style: | Vienna Secession |
| Located at: | Private collection |
| Our reproduction: | Hand-painted oil on canvas, eight upright sizes or made to measure |
Lady with a Feather Hat – Gustav Klimt
What does the painting show?
A young woman looks out at us from under an enormous black hat trimmed with feathers. She is shown half-length, her chin resting lightly on her hand, her red hair piled up beneath the wide brim. Her face is pale, her lips are red, and her eyes look out from under the hat with a calm, slightly guarded expression.
She wears a pale dress with a soft, fur-like collar that frames her face and hand. The background is light and almost empty, so the dark hat and the red hair stand out strongly. The brushwork is loose and quick: you can follow single strokes in the dress and in the background. Klimt signed and dated the canvas 1910 at the right.
Why does the painting look so sketchy?
Lady with a Feather Hat is painted far more loosely than most of Klimt’s portraits. There is no gold, no dense ornament and no mosaic of patterns: the dress, the collar and the background are laid down in open, rapid strokes, and only the face and the hand are worked out more closely. For Klimt, this unfinished-looking style is unusual.
The painting is often compared with the work of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, the French painter of Parisian women and nightlife. Klimt had seen his work in Paris the year before, in 1909, and the quick drawing and the bold dark shape of the hat are often linked to that visit. The red hair and the outsized hat had already appeared a year earlier in Klimt’s Lady with Hat and Feather Boa of 1909.
What does the portrait mean?
Klimt does not tell a story here. The painting is about a mood: a young city woman of around 1910, fashionably dressed, a little withdrawn, lost in her own thoughts. Large hats were fashionable in those years, and Klimt turns this one into the main shape of the composition, a dark crown above the pale face.
The gesture of the hand at the chin gives the portrait its intimacy. It is a pose of waiting or thinking, and it makes the woman feel present and real rather than stiffly posed. Because the background stays light and open, the painting has a fresh, modern lightness that fits contemporary homes as well as classic interiors.
Where is the painting today?
The original, an oil on canvas 79 cm high and 63 cm wide, is in a private collection and is not on permanent public view. Where Klimt’s other paintings are kept today is listed in the list of paintings by Gustav Klimt, which also gives the painting’s other title, The Black Feathered Hat.
More about the painter’s life and his years in Vienna is on Wikipedia. Because the original cannot be visited, a version painted by hand is the way to have this portrait on your own wall: we paint it for you, stroke by stroke, in the size you choose.
Lady with a Feather Hat among Klimt’s portraits of women
From around 1909 Klimt painted women in hats and fashionable dress more freely than in his golden years. Close in spirit is Lady in White, another light, airy portrait of a woman. The Portrait of Fräulein Lieser and the Portrait of Johanna Staude show how Klimt later combined strong colour with a calm figure, and Lady with a Fan is one of his last and most colourful portraits.
Which to choose? Take Lady with a Feather Hat if you like bold contrast, a dark hat against a light ground and a quick, sketchy hand; take Lady in White if you want something softer and paler; take Lady with a Fan if you want rich colour and ornament.
How do we paint Lady with a Feather Hat by hand?
The painter first draws the figure, the line of the hat and the position of the hand, so that the proportions and the slight tilt of the head sit as in the original. Then the light background and the pale dress are laid in with broad, open strokes, leaving the texture of the brush visible, as Klimt did.
Next comes the hat: a deep black built up in several layers so that it stays rich and does not look flat, with the feathers painted in long, flowing strokes. The red hair, the pale face and the lips are painted last and most carefully, because they carry the whole portrait. A printed oil painting reproduction cannot show these strokes; by hand, each one keeps its relief. Every painting is a hand-painted copy made for your order, so no two are ever exactly alike.
There is no gold in this portrait, so we work only with oil colours and keep the loose, quick character of the original instead of smoothing it out.
Which size for which wall?
Short answer: 40 x 50 or 50 x 60 cm for a small wall, a desk or a bedside, 63 x 79 or 70 x 90 cm above a sideboard or in a hallway, 80 x 100 or 90 x 110 cm above a sofa, and 100 x 125 or 120 x 150 cm for a large living room wall.
All eight sizes are upright: 40 x 50, 50 x 60, 63 x 79, 70 x 90, 80 x 100, 90 x 110, 100 x 125 and 120 x 150 cm. The size 63 x 79 cm is the size of the original, and the others keep a very similar proportion. As a painting for the living room it works best at 80 x 100 cm or larger, where the dark hat becomes a strong accent above a sofa or a chest of drawers.
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 eight 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 black or dark frame repeats the hat; a white or light frame keeps the portrait airy; natural wood makes it warmer.
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 Lady with a Feather Hat?
The original is in a private collection and is not on permanent public view. It is an oil on canvas from 1910, 79 cm high and 63 cm wide, signed and dated by Klimt at the right. Because you cannot visit it, a version painted by hand in oil is the way to bring this portrait into your own home.
Who is the woman in Lady with a Feather Hat?
The sources we used do not name her. Klimt shows a fashionable young woman of around 1910 with red hair and a huge feathered hat, her chin resting on her hand. A similar red-haired woman in an outsized hat had already appeared a year earlier in his Lady with Hat and Feather Boa, painted in 1909.
When did Klimt paint Lady with a Feather Hat?
Klimt painted it in 1910 and signed and dated it at the right side of the canvas. It comes from the years after his golden period, when he painted women more freely and in looser strokes. A year earlier, in 1909, he had seen the work of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in Paris, a visit the painting is often linked to.
Why is Lady with a Feather Hat compared with Toulouse-Lautrec?
Because of its loose, quick style. The dress, the collar and the background are painted in open, rapid strokes, which is unusual for Klimt and is often compared with Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, whose work Klimt had seen in Paris the year before. Only the face and the hand are worked out more closely, so the eye goes straight to her expression.
How big is the original Lady with a Feather Hat?
The original measures 79 cm high and 63 cm wide, a medium size that fits easily on a normal wall. Our 63 x 79 cm version reproduces exactly that size, and the other seven sizes keep a very similar upright proportion, from a small 40 x 50 cm up to a large 120 x 150 cm for a big wall.
Which size of Lady with a Feather Hat suits my wall?
For a small wall or a desk, choose 40 x 50 or 50 x 60 cm. Above a sideboard or in a hallway, 63 x 79 or 70 x 90 cm works well, above a sofa 80 x 100 or 90 x 110 cm, and for a large wall 100 x 125 or 120 x 150 cm. The size 63 x 79 cm is the size of the original.
Which room suits Lady with a Feather Hat?
It suits a living room, a bedroom, a study or an entrance hall, anywhere you want a calm face and a strong dark accent. As a canvas painting it looks especially good on white, cream or light grey walls, where the black hat and the red hair stand out. Its light background keeps it fresh even in a small room.
Is there gold in Lady with a Feather Hat?
No, there is no gold in this portrait. Klimt painted it in plain oil colours, with a deep black hat, red hair and a light background. That is why we paint it only with oil colours as well, keeping the loose, quick strokes of the original rather than smoothing them out, so the painting stays fresh and alive.
Is Lady with a Feather Hat a good gift?
Yes, for anyone who likes fashion, Vienna around 1900, portraits or bold contrast. The painting is elegant without being formal, and the story of Klimt’s visit to Paris makes it an easy talking point with guests. If you are unsure of the size, 50 x 60 cm suits most walls, or give a voucher so the recipient can choose.
- Subject: a red-haired young woman under a huge black feathered hat, her chin resting on her hand.
- Original: 1910, oil on canvas, 79 x 63 cm, private collection.
- Ours: a Klimt reproduction painted by hand in oil on canvas, in eight upright sizes or made to measure.
- Worth knowing: you receive a photograph of the finished work for approval before dispatch.
