Frantisek Drtikol
1883-1961Nude Study, c. 1920
Notation '09.010.I.07' in an unknown hand in pencil on verso
Vintage Silver Gelatin Print
16,5 x 12 cm
Like most typical Drtikol photographs, 'Nude Study' offers itself straightforwardly to the mind and the eye: limber woman, entrancingly simple setting, erotic languor and melodramatic emotion, nude form complemented and...
Like most typical Drtikol photographs, "Nude Study" offers itself straightforwardly to the mind and the eye: limber woman, entrancingly simple setting, erotic languor and melodramatic emotion, nude form complemented and contrasted with geometrically shaped props and the shadows they cast.
As a man, philosopher and artist, Drtikol centered his artwork on his passion for the female. A passion that led him to create the image of a "new woman" with short hair visible on her head and between her legs. The interplay between this new woman and her shadow balances the sexual tension in the image. A libidinous mystical sense, which is always present in his work, is created by the woman's naked body and passionate expressive gestures.
In "Nude Study" the mimicry of the geometric forms by the woman's body and her identical yet larger shadow cast against the wall and bounded by two parallel vertical lines invites the viewer to discover that "new woman"; that woman who is playfully innocent even though the libidinous mystical sense is emphasized by the light on her naked body.
© Cigdem Mirol
As a man, philosopher and artist, Drtikol centered his artwork on his passion for the female. A passion that led him to create the image of a "new woman" with short hair visible on her head and between her legs. The interplay between this new woman and her shadow balances the sexual tension in the image. A libidinous mystical sense, which is always present in his work, is created by the woman's naked body and passionate expressive gestures.
In "Nude Study" the mimicry of the geometric forms by the woman's body and her identical yet larger shadow cast against the wall and bounded by two parallel vertical lines invites the viewer to discover that "new woman"; that woman who is playfully innocent even though the libidinous mystical sense is emphasized by the light on her naked body.
© Cigdem Mirol