Running Woman (recto); Prostrate Female Nude (verso)

In 1913, Schiele's style of drawing changed dramatically. A master draughtsman, he had always depicted his models in a variety of poses from all possible angles. The flatness and angularity of the subjects had also revealed the Jugendstil influence on his work. However, after 1913 this influence disappears and his models gradually became rounder and fleshier. As Jane Kallir explains: 'This year [1913] produces one of the most profound changes of the artist's career: the switch from two-dimensional to three-dimensional orientation, which will shape his drawing style for good' (op. cit., p. 490).

In Prostrate Female Nude (verso), the underlying structure of muscle and bone is visible rendering the figure more curvy. Schiele heightens this sensousness by depicting the subject in an erotic position wearing only stockings and shoes. In this work, similar to the Two Crouching Figures (R. 1282) of 1913 in the Neue Galerie of Vienna, the added volume to the body gives the area around the model more depth creating a more realistic space.

Schiele in 1913 took a particular interest in the study of the female torso completing what was perhaps his single largest group of interrelated studies (R. 1367-94). In spite of the fact that the women are three-quarter-length in these studies and in Running Woman (recto) (R. 1322), Schiele is able to successfully depict bodies moving through space.