Mäda Primavesi

Mäda was nine years old when Klimt painted her, the daughter of one of his patrons. She stands in the center of a flat, decorative field — the wallpaper-like background owes more to Japanese prints than to Vienna. Her gaze is direct, unsentimental, and adult. Klimt sketched her dozens of times before painting; the finished work suggests he was a little intimidated by her.