Composition with Three Male Nudes

This sketch was undoubtedly created in connection to a large, seated male nude canvas painted by Schiele in the same year, which is also in the holdings of the Leopold Museum’s collection. A remarkable aspect of this ink drawing is Schiele’s technique of depicting the three figures as dark silhouettes. As a result, the gaze of the viewer is essentially focused on the contours of the bodies. Schiele additionally chose extreme postures and gestures, such as splayed and angled legs and unnaturally bent arms, as well as extremely slender waists. As a result, the very essence of the human figure transforms into a form that appears fragile and insect-like. In this grouping of three, the figures produce a somehow decorative tangle of contorted lines and planes. The formal allure of these silhouettes most likely sparked Rudolf Leopold’s choice of the figure depicted on the right of the page to become the trademark for the museum he established.