Seated Woman, Back View 1917

Egon Schiele made this drawing, maybe in the early 1900s, with watercolor and pencil on paper. There is a real feeling of process here, as if we are seeing Schiele work through the problem of describing the figure, with such direct marks. The stripes of the woman’s blouse are not precise, but gestural, the colors bleeding into one another. Look at the place where the blue of the shirt meets the white of the trousers, the textures blend to give the impression of folds and creases. The tension between the outlined forms and the more fluid, transparent washes of color creates an emotional intensity. Schiele is interested in how the body occupies space, and the lines convey that beautifully. It reminds me a little of Klimt's graphic style. Ultimately, this drawing invites us to embrace the beauty of imperfection and the power of suggestion in art.