The artwork titled “Kneeling Female Nude, Back View” is an expressionist nude painting created by the renowned artist Egon Schiele in 1915 in Vienna, Austria. This piece is part of the expressionist movement, known for its bold and intense depiction of emotion and spiritual experience. The artwork’s dimensions are 47.8 by 31.7 centimeters and it is currently held in a private collection.
In the artwork, the viewer is presented with a figure of a female nude seen from the back, kneeling and captured in an intricate pose that accentuates the natural curves and musculature of her body. The artist employs a vivid and expressive line work, which creates a sense of tension and dynamism within the composition. Schiele’s use of color is restrained yet impactful, with hues accentuating the contours of the body and lending the figure an almost tangible texture and depth.
One of the distinctive characteristics of this piece is the interplay between the detailed rendering of the body and the sparse, almost unfinished appearance of the surrounding space. The figure dominates the canvas, and the use of negative space focuses the viewer’s attention on the form and posture of the subject. The expressionist qualities of the artwork are evident in the visceral and raw portrayal of the human form, which is a hallmark of Schiele’s oeuvre and contributes to the intense emotional resonance of the piece.