Davidson’s ideal figures were usually female nudes sitting quietly or in motion. The slight contrapposto of Female Torso suggests that the figure is slowly turning and stretching. It differs from most of the artist’s nudes in that it is not a whole figure but rather a headless torso that is reminiscent of a classical fragment. This tie with classical art is strengthened by David, son’s idealization of the figure as a perfect female body. The crisp delineation and smooth surface of the bronze further align it with classical marble statuary rather than the work of Rodin, whose softer treatment of surfaces influenced many of Davidson’s later portraits.
In the tradition of late nineteenth-century symbolists Davidson intended his ideal figures to evoke an idea or feeling rather than something physical. Because he believed that the meaning of the sculptures was clearly conveyed by their gestures, he usually did not give them descriptive titles but "opus" numbers instead.
