Untitled

The model for this nude study may be the same woman who posed for Ault's watercolor Old Annie. Much as he did with Old Annie, Ault eliminated all non-essential details that might distract from his experience drawing the form as well as our appreciation of it. This editing extends to the support on which his model rests. A wavy line delineates the model’s right thigh and simultaneously suggests the uneven surface atop which she sits, preventing the impression that she floats in space. Ault’s sculptural treatment of his model and her contemplative pose cast her as a female counterpart to the French artist Auguste Rodin’s monumental bronze The Thinker.