Robert Metzkes’ two seated nudes, of varying sizes, shows the proficiency of the German artist’s ability to capture the female figure. The smaller figure, with her right leg raised and right arm bent resting atop her knee expresses a confidence in her body as she seems to highlight her nudity, while also covering herself, conveying both a sense of sensuality and a sense of innocence. The larger figure in contrast seems to represent the sinuous figure of an odalisque, with her arms raised above her head, in a soft languid pose. An image popular since the Renaissance the odalisque had become widely depicted in modern art since Jean Auguste Dominique Ingres’ Grande Odalisque, which like the present work, emphasises the curvature of the female figure.