Schiele, Egon

Timeline: Expressionism

Austrian expressionist artist Egon Leo Adolf Schiele, b. June 12, 1890, d. Oct. 31, 1918, was at odds with art critics and society for most of his brief life. Even more than Gustav Klimt, Schiele made eroticism one of his major themes and was briefly imprisoned for obscenity in 1912. His treatment of the nude figure suggests a lonely, tormented spirit haunted rather than fulfilled by sexuality. At first strongly influenced by Klimt, whom he met in 1907, Schiele soon achieved an independent anticlassical style wherein his jagged lines arose more from psychological and spiritual feeling than from aesthetic considerations. He painted a number of outstanding portraits, such as that of his father-in-law, Johann Harms (1916; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York City), and a series of unflinching and disquieting self-portraits. Late works such as The Family (1918; Oesterreichische Galerie, Vienna) reveal a newfound sense of security.

126.7K, 1010 x 764	Agony (Very mosiac. Lots of reds, browns, oranges.) Painted: 1912 Man and monk 66 x 81.5 cm Neue Pinakothek Munich	Death and Girl (Self-portrait with Walli) Girl clutching the figure of Death. His long boney fingers in her hair. Painted: 1915 Osterreichisches Galerie Vienna	125.0K, 1019 x 765
89.2K, 1008 x 764	Four trees Painted: 1917 Oil on canvas Osterriche Galerie Vienna	Schiele drawing nude before mirror Painted: 1910 Pencil Graphische Sammlung Albertina Vienna	18.4K, 504 x 766
102.0K, 1019 x 768	Self Portrait with black Vase Painted: 1911 Oil on wood Historiches Museum der Stadt Vienna	Pregnant Woman and Death Painted: 1911 Oil on canvas National Gallery Prague	80.2K, 858 x 767
43.6K, 1003 x 764	Self Portrait Painted: 1913 Pencil National Museum Stockholm	Sitting Woman with Legs Drawn Up Painted: 1917 Narodni Galerie Prague	106.8K, 1019 x 764

Austrian Expressionism

The Austrian Expressionist painter Egon Schiele (1890-1918) died when he was only 28 and we do not really know whether he would have developed from the self-pitying adolescent angst that was the main theme of his work. Self-Portrait (1910; 110 x 35.5 cm (43 x 14 1/4 in)), however, is a most moving theme in itself: a pathetic and yet powerful exposure of Schiele's vulnerability. He is mere skin and bone, not yet fully there as a person. He has outlined his body with a glowing line of white to indicate to us both his sense of imprisonment and his limitations: notice how his arm disappears almost at the elbow-- yet paradoxically it also suggests growth and potential. He is an unhappy, scrawny youth, the wild and exaggerated expanse of pubic hair perhaps indicating the center of his unhappiness. It may seem too individualistic a view, yet in his hysterical way he is expressing the fears and doubts of many young people. He is wonderful, unsettling, and strangely innocent.