Seated Woman with Bent Knees 1917

In this undefinable drawing, Egon Schiele captures a seated woman, her knees drawn up to her chest in an embrace. The pose speaks volumes; it's a motif echoed across centuries. Consider the ancient sculptures of crouching Venuses, symbols of fertility and vulnerability. The gesture of drawn-up knees appears in medieval depictions of sinners, embodying guilt and remorse. Schiele's woman sits somewhere between these poles, inviting a multitude of associations. Observe how this intimate gesture also appeared in art during times of distress, like in some works from the Romanticism and Expressionism periods, perhaps reflecting the collective anxieties of a rapidly changing world. This is a language of the body, one that transcends time. We are reminded that the human experience is cyclical, with gestures resurfacing, evolving, and taking on new meanings across generations.