Portrait of Trudl

Kokoschka was a major figure of the Viennese avant-garde at the beginning of the twentieth century. In his influential portraits, he conveyed the psychology of his sitters through his depiction of their physical appearance. During the autumn of 1931, he began a series of drawings and paintings depicting the daughter of a neighbor in the Liebhartstal district outside Vienna, a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl named Trudl Bandera. About twenty drawings and six paintings of Trudl exist, showing her in a variety of roles and moods. In contrast to the agitated, expressionistic portraits for which he had become known, his portraits of Trudl appear heavier and more classical. In this sheet, the girl's pose and slightly downcast eyes convey the shyness of adolescence.