In preparation for our own exhibition which opens next week marking the centenary of the death of Gustav Kimt and Egon Schiele (Klimt was 55, Schiele only 28), I thought I should go to see one of many rival exhibitions at the Neue Galeries, Ronald Lauder’s beautiful Secessionist gallery on 86th. Street. The Klimt drawings are not just mildly erotic, but spectacularly so in a sensual way, Schiele’s drawing style much more adventurous, vivid, tense, neurotic and sometimes rude. They are astonishing, as, I hope, our exhibition will be.
| Charles | Saumarez | Smith | 
Dear Charles,
as coincidence would have it I’ve just come back from a weekend auction preview in St Gallen, Switzerland, where they had a very rare 1907 edition of Klimt’s ‘Die Hetärengespräche des Lukian’ featuring many of his erotic drawings (Beurret & Bailly Auktionen, Galerie Widmer; Lot 79). The original Wiener Werkstätte binding is beautiful. Below is the link to the online catalogue – should you be interested in having a reminder on your bookshelf once they have again gone from the walls of the RA.
https://www.bbw-auktionen.com/de/startseite/auktionen/archiv/kataloge/auktion-2-november-2018-lose-1n84-162.html#!/auction/139/artist/19885,20593/page/1/pagesize/5/lot/die-hetaerengespraeche-des-lukian-20593