507 - Egon Schiele (1890 Tulln/Danube – Vienna 1918)

Egon Schiele (1890 Tulln/Danube – Vienna 1918) Woman Undressing. View from Behind Pencil on chamois-colored drawing paper. 1911. Approx. 55 x 35 cm. Signed and dated in the center right. A barely legible inscription by another hand in the lower right corner; also inscribed “A 1665” by another hand on the reverse. Kallir D 903. • An intimate depiction of an unknown model • By capturing the act of undressing, Schiele heightens the voyeuristic quality of his observation and our viewing experience • Drawn in 1911, a year of upheaval for Schiele “Woman Undressing. View from Behind” is part of a small series of drawings from 1911 in which Schiele observes a model undressing. While his nudes and semi-nudes are otherwise often passive figures—depicted standing, sitting, or lying down, with scattered items of clothing added to heighten their perceived nudity—the models in this series of drawings are active participants. They are not semi-nude, but in the act of undressing. Curiously, Schiele succeeds in turning the viewers into even greater voyeurs than they already are. Whereas (semi-)nudity is usually presented as something to be admired, here it is precisely the models’ actions that are imbued with a sense of shame. The model is shown from the back, as if turning away from us so as not to be overly scrutinized by gazes while unfastening and removing her corset. This circumstance also obscures the model’s identity. In May 1911, Schiele left Krumau. His youthful models from this city thus appear in his works only up to that point. Gerti appears in numerous drawings. It is Moa, a dancer, in particular, however, whom Schiele depicts time and again. Occasionally, he marks drawings depicting Moa with a signature framed in Art Nouveau style. This is absent here. Exhibition: Egon Schiele, Seibu Museum of Art, Tokyo 1979, cat. no. 26, ill.; Egon Schiele: An Exhibition of Watercolors and Drawings, Marlborough Fine Art, London 1979, cat. no. 21, ill. p. 26; Egon Schiele: From Student to Master, Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna 1984, and elsewhere 1984–1988, cat. no. 58, color ill.; Egon Schiele, Pinacoteca Capitolina, Rome/Museo d’Arte Moderna Ca’ Pesaro, Venice 1984/85, cat. no. 101, color ill.; Egon Schiele, Fondation Pierre Gianadda, Martigny 1986/87, cat. no. 54; Expressionism from the Sabarsky Collection, Kunstforeningen GL STRAND, Copenhagen 2002. Provenance: Serge Sabarsky Collection/Estate, New York; Vally Sabarsky Collection/Foundation, New York. Taxation: subject to regular taxation (VAT: Regular Taxation).