Scene from H. W. Geissendörfer´s movie adaption (1981) of Thomas Mann´s famous novel "Der Zauberberg" ("Magic Mountain"), a story set in an early 20th century tuberculosis sanatorium. A young man who visits his cousin in the facility serves as a hanger story for a broader literary discussion of politics, philosophy, love, life, suffering and death.
Christoph Eichhorn (born 1957) as Hans Castorp to whom in this scene is revealed that he no longer is a mere visitor to the clinic, but has to become a patient as well.
This painting, dated 1907, depicts a social event with the two main female figures – the one standing with a gentleman, the other sitting with her back to the viewer – are wearing rather risqué dresses for the Edwardian era.
I like the painting, so I thought I'd use it as a springboard to discuss its atypical choice of dresses for the era. What's mostly seen in Edwardian evening attire, circa 1907, looks like this:
Plenty of lace, yes but generally not sleeveless or cut too low in front or back. Drapey, sheer panels and wraps were popular, as shown in the image on the left. On the right we see a dress with an S silhouette, which lasted only a couple of years and gave way to the more relaxed fashions depicted in the left image.
I did, however, find several photographs of actresses from the early 1900s who are wearing what we now call "bodycon" dresses; curve-hugging, sleeveless or off-shoulder, and low-cut.
The actress on the right is Ethel Barrymore.
So perhaps the women depicted in the painting are actresses, daring socialites, or escorts.