Focus on Seated Woman with Bent Knees and analyze the Analysis and provenance.
Schiele's work came to be categorized as part of the Austrian Expressionism movement, which rejected conventional portrayals of beauty and instead predicated its pictorial language through elements of ugliness and exaggerated emotions. Schiele would be a major proponent of these features, "introducing the provocative concept of the novel combination of form and emotion."In this vein, Schiele "studied and staged the poses of his models to the extent that ultimately he achieved a deformed and even grotesque effect", disrupting the dichotomy of beauty and ugliness. Seated Woman with Bent Knees follows suit. Instead of creating a "flattering, demure portrait" of Edith, the piece opts to depict its subject in a controversial, suggestive pose and create an unfinished feeling through the foreshortening and use of taut, edgy linework. While illustrative, Schiele's work on the piece conflicted with conventional painting styles.The piece is in the National Gallery Prague's Collection of Prints and Drawings in Prague, Czech Republic.
National Gallery Prague Expressionism Czech Republic foreshortening Prague