Female Model in Bright Red Jacket and Pants 1914

This is Egon Schiele’s ‘Female Model in Bright Red Jacket and Pants’ made with paint and maybe gouache. The gestural marks, nervous lines, and earthy palette give you this sense of unease and directness. You can just imagine Schiele in the studio, circling the model, trying to capture something essential about her. It must have been intense! I wonder if she knew she would be immortalized this way. The way he layers the paint is interesting. It is almost as if he is building up the form, searching for the right balance of light and shadow. You see that intense red jacket and pants, and the way it contrasts with the pale flesh tones? That is totally Schiele. It’s like he is stripping away the surface to reveal something rawer and more vulnerable underneath. His style reminds me of other expressionist painters but is totally unique. It’s almost like he’s saying, "Here I am, this is how I see the world." As painters, we’re always in this constant exchange, inspiring and pushing each other forward through time. There are many ways of seeing, thinking, and experiencing the world!