Seated Woman with Bent Knee
Item
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Title
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Seated Woman with Bent Knee
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Description
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Seated Woman with Bent Knees is a 1917 painting in gouache, watercolor, and black crayon on paper by the Austrian Expressionist artist Egon Schiele. As its name suggests, the piece features a woman, depicted in a seated pose.
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Date
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1917
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Material
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Gouache, watercolor, and black crayon on paper
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Measurements
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46 cm × 30.5 cm (18 inches × 12 inches)
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Analysis
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Explicit sexualization under the guise of expressionism:
(20th century) In Seated Woman with Bent Knee, Schiele presents a clothed woman in a tightly curled, tense pose, emphasizing vulnerability and raw sexuality. His work is noted for its intensity, and here the angular lines and twisted posture draw attention to her body, creating an intimate, erotic focus for the viewer. Her averted gaze suggests self-consciousness, yet the composition frames her as an object of visual attention, demonstrating how Schiele’s expressionism amplifies the sexualized perception of women under the male gaze.
