Estudo de nu feminino

But is that all there is to it? It should not be forgotten that we, the viewers, are also spying on the painter and his model, without their being aware of it. As our prying eyes move salaciously about the painting, aren't we perhaps the "inopportune" intruders referred to by the title? This work involves a reflection on the contemplation of art and painting - a well-known theme in the history of art - and on the problems inherent to this action, which demands the interdependent yet fleeting relation between the subject who is observing and the object that is being observed. The entire painting is organized based on double relationshios: there are two chairs, two figures, two rugs and curtains, two framed canvases, two paintings in process, two rifles, two palettes, two robes. The somewhat ominous tension and sensuality in this canvas are engendered by these binary associations, enhancing the power of Almeida Junior's metaphor.