Semi-Nude

Despite its apparent subject matter, the scene is not focused on corporeality or sensuality but has an aura of intimacy, tranquillity, almost tangible metaphysicality. Seated on a stool with her back to the viewer, the woman takes up nearly the entire foreground of the work. Shown from the side, only her profile and a fragment of her neck are visible. In the background, there is a piece of furniture with a vase upon it. The sitter has been rendered sketchily.

Her slender, somewhat hunched, back with the distinct spine is in the foreground. The right hand is holding the left elbow which could suggest coldness in the room or embarrassment brought about by the sitting she is not used to. The lower part of her body is concealed under light fabric and her waist is covered by an almost transparent chemise. The upper part of her body has a dark contour and the lower one a slightly lighter one, exposing her paleness and fragility, making the sitter look older and world-weary. It can be surmised that the hidden theme of this depiction is expectation. The semi-nude may also indicate the vulnerability and inevitability of human life.

This piece is the quintessence of Leopold Gottlieb’s painting, it presents a solitary human being in a symbolic scene that reveals to us a diversity of messages. The artist was sensitive to beauty in the everyday, beauty that was not understood as physical attractiveness, idealisation, but something deeper, a mark left by God. Beauty as the artist shows it is primarily in the nobleness and goodness noticeable in the eyes of the depicted figures, their small gestures and energies. This sensitivity and capacity to see core values made Leopold Gottlieb an artist able to look further and convey profound content in all its majesty.