Two Figures: First Version

Neuschul executed two versions of this double portrait of two women, one draped and one nude. Although known as a leading exponent of Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity), this work is also reminiscent of Picasso's approach to his double nude La Toilette (1906, Buffalo AKG Art Museum), showing two sides - the sensual and the modest - of the same model. In the second version, style and handle are looser and the palette more subdued. The models are the artist’s lifetime companions and models, Didi (left), who found a sponsor for Ernest in Wales, enabling the family to escape from Czechoslovakia in March 1939, and Ruth (right), also a lifelong friend and relative of Mimi (Neuschul's protégée, model and muse who lived with him and his second wife, Christl, from 1934 onwards).