Hope II
Hope II (in German, Die Hoffnung II) is an oil-on-canvas painting with added gold and platinum by the Austrian symbolist artist Gustav Klimt, made in 1907–08, depicting a pregnant woman with closed eyes. It was the second of Klimt's works to focus on a pregnant woman, both depicting Herma, one of his favourite models. It was entitled Vision by Klimt, but has become known as Hope II after the earlier work Hope, which is now distinguished as Hope I. Hope II was acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1978. Klimt painted the heavily pregnant Herma in Hope I in 1903, in which she was depicted naked. In Hope II, she is wearing a long dress or cloak decorated with geometric shapes. She has long brown hair and closed eyes, bowing her head towards her bare breasts and burgeoning abdomen. A human skull representing death appears from behind her stomach – perhaps a sign of the dangers of labour, or possibly a memento mori (in Hope I, she is also accompanied by a skull and several deathlike figures). At the foot of the painting, three woman also bow their heads, as if praying or perhaps