Painter and Model, 1927

Josef Dobrowsky (1889–1964) reformulated the subject of painter in several increasingly dramatic takes, as. e.g., Painter and Model in Landscape and others. They all have the same compositional structure: the painter is seen from behind with the undressed model to his right lying in front of him on a mattress. Unlike in the usual representation of a master-artist making a picture of an eroticized object, Dobrowsky makes the model come alive as a self-determined subject who puts up resistance. We witness the moment of dramatic climax in which the painter lays hand on her, grabbing her by the wrist to prevent her from walking out on him.

RR, 2021