Feminine intimacy through the eyes of Egon Schiele at Fundación MAPFRE

In 1909, the Austrian artist Egon Schiele created "Joven asleep". (Schlafendes Mädchen), a work that is part of the Fundación MAPFRE Art Collections. During this period, Schiele had just left the Vienna Academy and distances himself from his master Gustav Klimt, adopting a more austere and direct style. Instead of decorations and narrative complexity, Schiele opted to place his figures in empty spaces, without distracting anecdotes, which lends his paintings a palpable psychological intensity. Young woman asleep is a clear example of this transition, where the female figure, almost in its entirety, is represented in an introspective and tangible way, inviting the viewer to reflect on vulnerability and tenderness.

The work, executed in watercolour, pastel and graphite, depicts a young woman asleep in a pose that, although apparently calm, conveys a sense of discomfort. This duality in the expression of calm and tension is characteristic of Schiele's style, which seeks to show the female body from multiple perspectives, breaking with idealised representations of women. Young woman asleep invites us to explore the female figure in its most natural and authentic form, unadorned and unpretentious. The work is part of a period of great social and cultural transformations in which women are beginning to be seen in a more realistic, rather than idealised, light. Schiele's direct, naked gaze shows us a woman who no longer hides behind myths and stereotypes.