Seated Male Nude, Back View

In 1910, Schiele created many figure studies using his own body in the mirror as his model. His elongated, attenuated figure seems to float on the page, in vivid, improvised hues that were likely influenced by the French Fauves, and that would later evolve to a more somber set of colors. The sitter’s identity was apparently not intended to be recognized; sometimes the head is missing or turned away. These works are bravura exercises in Expressionist body-imagery; as in modern dance, the inner emotion is manifested through the gestural impact of the exposed, contorted, bony, and truncated body, in all manner of poses and seen at a variety of angles.