Egon Schiele's 'Portrait of a Woman' is housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It is a 5 1/2 by 3 1/2 inch colored lithograph. This portrait is mostly comprised of lines and shapes. The lines, the whole of the work are mostly faint. There are a few strong, dark lines that make up the woman's face, neck and hands. Her arms are long, thin rectangles and her face is the shape of an oval. The rest of the shapes that make up her body are more organic.
This work is characterized by its negative and positive space. The negative space is the beige background and the positive space is comprised of the woman's body and the white 'halo' behind her head. The beige paper this work was created on appears to have some sort of grainy texture. It is also one of the few colors that make up this picture. There is also the red of the woman's hair, eyebrows and lips. She is wearing a black headband. This piece of artwork has a very warm feel to it.
It is hard to say what the meaning behind a figure drawing could possibly be. I think that Schiele wanted to capture this woman's delicate beauty and the strength of her emotions. I find it interesting that the only part of this portrait that has any detail is the woman's eyes. They are looking past the artist and appear wistful and faraway. The look on her face and the way her hands are clasped tight and held close to her face convey to me an overall feeling of sadness.
great choice- especially as a striking example of positive and negative space- because they are the same color (of the paper) and just defined by the simple black line of her body/shirt. Such a subtle piece but dramatic where the artist wants you to look- at her face and red hair in front of that cloud!
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