Female Nude from the Back

This snapshot of a nude woman’s back, seen walking through a salon with seemingly Oriental carpets and curtains, seems like a classic, academic contraposto. The erotic element is intensified by the exotic surroundings and the fetish-like red slippers and jewellery. Then there is the cropping of the upper edge of the image, creating the illusion that we could simply follow the woman into the picture without being noticed. The figure has a double role, here; as a repoussoir she not only conveys desire but is its Object. The setting is reminiscent of scenes of odalisques or harems such as the 19th-century painters of Oriental interiors used as the basis and excuse for erotically charged scenes with nudes. The ambivalence of the context, however, places Slevogt’s piece at the transition to the depiction of everyday settings such as characterizes modern nude painting. Slevogt’s fascination for the Orient, decidedly typical of his day, is also evidenced by his Sheherazade of 1897 and his illustrations for the Arabian Nights. (Kathrin DuBois)