Egon Schiele

Expressionism

He wanted to make the inner life of the soul visible.

💡 Did you know? Schiele's unsparing, often disturbing nudes broke radically with the pretty surface of Viennese Art Nouveau.

Gustav Klimt

The young Schiele sought out Gustav Klimt, who encouraged him, found him models and bought his pictures.

💡 Did you know? Both died in the same year, 1918.

line / drawing

His figures often appear contorted and tense.

💡 Did you know? Schiele's nervous, angular line is considered one of the most expressive in art history.

self-portraits

Schiele painted and drew himself endlessly: contorted, naked, vulnerable.

💡 Did you know? In hundreds of self-portraits Schiele explored his own body like almost no artist before him.

Vienna

Schiele lived and worked in Vienna, the centre of art around 1900.

💡 Did you know? In 1912 Schiele was briefly jailed because his explicit pictures were deemed offensive: the judge burned one work in court.

Spanish flu (aged 28)

He died only three days after his wife, who had also fallen ill.

💡 Did you know? Schiele died in 1918 aged just 28 of the Spanish flu: days after his pregnant wife, also stricken.

Portrait of Wally

Around 1912: a famous portrait of Wally Neuzil.

💡 Did you know? Wally was Schiele's model and lover; the picture is a companion to his own self-portrait.

Death and the Maiden

Around 1915: an intense picture about love and mortality.

💡 Did you know? An embracing couple at the abyss: in it Schiele worked through his parting from Wally.

Dead City III

Painted around 1911.

💡 Did you know? Schiele painted medieval Krumau as a deserted, frozen „dead city.“

The Hermits

Painted around 1912.

💡 Did you know? Schiele depicted himself and Klimt as two dark monk-like figures merging into one another.

The Port of Trieste

Painted around 1907.

💡 Did you know? An early, colourful work: Schiele travelled with Wally to Trieste on the Adriatic.

Eduard Kosmack

Painted around 1910.

💡 Did you know? The hypnotically staring publisher sits tensely hunched: a masterpiece of portraiture.

Twilight City (Krumau)

Schiele painted his mother's home town of Krumau again and again as a dreamlike landscape of houses.

💡 Did you know? In Krumau Schiele was driven out of town over his unconventional life with a model.

Four Trees

Painted around 1917.

💡 Did you know? Four trees in a row, one already bare with autumn: a rare, almost symbolic landscape.

Stein on the Danube, Seen from the South

Painted around 1913.

💡 Did you know? The Danube town of Stein too Schiele painted as a densely packed, steep wall of houses.

Egon Schiele

Egon Schiele (1890 to 1918) was an Austrian Expressionist painter, famous for his unsparing nudes and the nervous power of his line.

💡 Did you know? Schiele died at only 28 of the Spanish flu: in a single decade he had created a vast, revolutionary body of work.