Hope II

Klimt called it Vision

A pregnant woman bows her head and closes her eyes, wrapped in a long robe of gold and colour. Klimt painted this square canvas in 1907 to 1908, with oil, gold and platinum. He called it Vision; it became known as Hope II because of an earlier painting of a pregnant woman that he had titled Hope.

It belongs to the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

A woman in prayer

The woman’s profile is pale, her dark hair falling forward. Her eyes are closed. MoMA describes her as if praying for the safety of her child. One hand rises near her chest, small and delicate against the gold.

A robe of red and gold circles

Her robe is a flat field of red covered with gold, green, blue and black circles. It turns the body into ornament, as in Klimt’s golden portraits, and recalls Byzantine mosaics.

A pale head at her waist

Near her stomach, a pale head with closed eyes peeks out from the robe. MoMA reads it as a skull, a warning of the dangers she faces. It can be seen as a reminder of the risks of childbirth, or more generally of death within life.

Three women at her feet

At the bottom, three women bow their heads, hands raised to their faces. They may be praying, or mourning. Klimt leaves the meaning open: hope and fear are held in the same image.

Hope I and Hope II

Klimt’s first painting of a pregnant woman, Hope I (1903), now in the National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa, shocked Vienna. It showed a naked pregnant woman standing in profile, surrounded by dark, menacing figures. It was considered so provocative that it was kept out of public exhibitions for some time.

Hope II is gentler. The woman is clothed in a magnificent robe, her head bowed, and the threatening presences are reduced to a small skull. The mood is more contemplative, closer to prayer than to fear.

Klimt’s golden phase

Hope II belongs to Klimt’s so-called golden phase, the years around 1903 to 1909 when he used gold leaf in his paintings. He had been inspired by Byzantine mosaics, which he saw in Ravenna in 1903. Their flat, glowing gold backgrounds and stylised patterns transformed his art.

Other works from this period include The Kiss and the Portrait of Adele Bloch-Bauer I. In all of them, real faces and hands emerge from a field of flat, decorative ornament.

Life and death together

A small skull appears beside the woman’s belly, partly hidden in the pattern of her robe. Life and death are placed side by side, a theme that runs through Klimt’s work. The pregnant woman carries new life, but death is never far away. Some viewers also read the bowed heads as a sign of anxiety about the dangers of childbirth.

A square canvas

Klimt often painted on square canvases, especially for landscapes and later works. The square gives the composition a stable, almost icon-like quality. In Hope II, the vertical figure fills the centre, and the robe spreads outwards to fill the space, like a jewel set in a frame.

Where to see it

Hope II hangs in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Our hand-painted oil reproduction follows this composition. For more images of women in art, explore our famous paintings of women, or read about Klimt’s Death and Life.

Questions about Hope II

Why is it called Hope II?

Klimt titled it Vision; it is known as Hope II by association with his earlier painting Hope.

Where is the original?

The Museum of Modern Art, New York.

Is there a skull?

Yes. A skull-like head appears at the woman’s waist, a sign of danger or death.

How large is it?

110.5 × 110.5 centimetres, oil, gold and platinum on canvas.

Where is Hope I?

In the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa.

What inspired Klimt’s use of gold?

Byzantine mosaics, which he saw in Ravenna in 1903.

Sources and image credit

• The Museum of Modern Art: Hope, II
• Wikimedia Commons: Hope, II

Public-domain reproduction of Hope II (1907 to 1908), via Wikimedia Commons (Google Art Project). Detail images are crops of the same historical painting; no reconstruction or upscaling.