Female Nude Lying on Stomach, study for Female Nude from the Back (Weiblicher Rückenakt), 1911
Christian Rohlfs
Description
Oskar Kokoschka
Austria, 1886–1980
Nude with Arms Overhead
1934
Blue crayon on paper
Gift of the Ernst Pulgram and Frances McSparran Collection, 2007/2.91
Christian Rohlfs
Germany, 1849–1938
Female Nude Lying on Stomach
1911
Tempera and ink on paper
Gift of the Ernst Pulgram and Frances McSparran Collection, 2007/2.107
As many Expressionists matured, changes in their formal style were reflected in their figure studies. Oskar Kokoschka’s first studies greatly resembled the thin and twisted contours of those of his schoolmate Egon Schiele. A noticeable change occured in the 1930s, as seen in Nude with Arms Overhead, when Kokoschka began to fill his contours with shading to create volume.
Christian Rohlfs was an established, academically trained artist who came to Expressionism in 1910 at the age of 61. This study of 1911 is one of Rohlf’s early Expressionist studies, which he turned into brightly colored, heavily impastoed paintings, such as the Female Nude from the Back (1911). The splashes of color here foreshadow his color experiments on canvas that would become a hallmark of
his Expressionist phase.
Subject Matter:
Female nude from waist up, as she lies face down, her head turned to the left, and her left elbow propped forward from under her.
Physical Description:
Figure study of female nude lying on her stomach, from a 3/4 side position of artist. Woman's head is in top left, her torso at lower right of page. Woman's left elbow is crooked, pointing toward viewer. Brown tempera accents the body, while green tempera accents the surface below. Woman's left breast is visible.
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