The aspects of modern art from the first half of the twentieth century were strongly influenced by post-impressionist artists Cézanne and Gauguin. In modern art, there was no emphasis on a photographic rendering of reality. The colors and shapes rendered no longer served a faithful imitation of reality, but acquired other expressive roles.

In this expressionist work one can observe a return to more raw forms, with a primitivist appearance, marked even by the black outlines of the figures. These are the imprints of Gauguin's influence.

Cézanne will play a decisive role in dealing with volumes in painting. Instead of shadows rendered by the simple darkening of color, modern artists will use the theory of recessive colors according to which the human eye will perceive a cold color as retreating backwards when it is next to a warm color. Thus, on the rounded shapes of modern painting you can often notice shades of yellow, along with a shade of blue, the volume of the shapes being built from color.

In the case of August Ludwig Schmitt's work, there is an interesting application of the modernist form over an Old Testament religious theme. The scene captured is the one in which the Jewish Judith saves her tribe from the oppression of the tyrant Holofernes. She intoxicates him, seduces him and - in his tent - beheads him.