Tuesday Art ATTACK- "The Seductive Line: Eroticism in Early Twentieth-Century Germany and Austria" at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

By Christian Franzen

This last week I visited the visiting exhibit "The Seductive Line: Eroticism in Early Twentieth-Century Germany and Austria" on view at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. The exhibit presents over fifty work on paper from several notable German and Austrian artists. The works exhibited range from circa 1910 through circa 1938; therefore displaying drawing from several different movements including German Expressionism, Jugendstil, New Objectivity, and the Vienna Secession.

This exhibit highlights the new ideas surrounding the possibility of the figure, as well as its new found sexuality in the early 20th century and its capabilities to induce lust, shame, anxiety,  and disgust. While at the same time attempting to capture the essence of the figure in new a revolutionary way. Women are by far the main subject matter throughout the series of drawing. The new ways in which these artist were observing and drawing the female form over exaggerates the raw sexuality of the female nude to the point of smoldering.

Aside from that, there is an indescribable beauty in the inquisitive line shared by this collection of artists. Each artist has a distinct style that is their own; however, they all posses this powerful wandering line that dances throughout the page. In the exhibit there are several works by Egon Schiele that were beyond beautiful. There is also an amazing portrait of a woman done by Gustav Klimt that rattled my brain. It's a really great show and it's up until July 10th. I would highly recommend that you see it if you have some free time.