What I mean by this is that with his next step, Rodin's figure buries his foot into the ground to set a good foundation before he could move his other leg. If you were to compare this to Matisse's figure of a woman's back, you would notice that Matisse's figure is not as weighty as Rodin's. Matisse's figure seems like the bronze wall is supporting the woman. In a way, from figure Back I, it could almost seem like she is lying down on a slab of bronze. The other figures seems like the woman is standing but is half engulfed by the wall. .
Rodin's sculpture seems that he wanted the viewer to concentrate on the torso and the legs of the figure more than any other part of the body. That is probably why he did not include the arms or the head. He did this to leave that part to the viewer's imagination. Even though, he did not include the arms and the head, from the stance of the figure, you can figure out where the head and arms should be. Rodin's figure gives the impression that if the man did have a head, he would be looking forwards and the left arm would be in front with the right arm swinging back. Matisse uses this similar technique on his figure also except he focuses on the woman's back instead of the torso. He doesn't sculpt the entire figure, but instead he just shows you the back and the legs of his figures. Matisse and Rodin both want the viewer to focus on the muscle strains in the legs of the figure's stance. Both artists show lots of details of how muscles are positions and how they were contracted a!.
s if the figure was in motion. The details of the veins and the muscle strains help bring out the realism of the figures.
Matisse's figure also seems like it is in motion like Rodin's. Looking at the four figures, the woman almost seems like she is dancing. She has almost all of her weight shifted onto her left leg. Matisse's figure has her left arm raised in front of her head, pushing against the wall, like if his figure was coming to life.