Lady with Cape and Hat against Red Background

• Gustav Klimt (1862–1918)
• 1897/98
• Oil on canvas
• Klimt-Foundation, Vienna

The lady in the picture is wearing fashionable accessories of the Viennese women at the turn of the century. Her face is framed by two black elements: the raised collar that covers her neck and the large hat. In late-nineteenth-century Europe, women’s fashion moved away from tightened corsets and excessive decorations to the more practical and comfortable style of reform dresses. Emilie Flöge, one of the most influential fashion designers in Vienna at the time, had a close artistic bond with Klimt, and her fashion works influenced Klimt’s paintings.