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Egon Schiele (Austria) 1890- |  ARTIST PROFILE
Austrian painter, draftsman, and printmaker, known for his paintings of angular, anguished figures. His nudes have a frankly sexual quality despite the awkwardness of their lonely, emaciated forms. In his many self-portraits, contorted figures crouch in uncomfortable positions, starkly framed against
blank backgrounds, with limbs cut off by the edges of the picture. Schiele drew these works using simple ink lines accented with blotches of watercolors that suggest diseased flesh.
Schiele's work helped define an Austrian version of expressionism, an art movement that had recently gained hold
in Germany. Expressionism advocated distortion or exaggeration to express a personal or emotional vision. Schiele's interest in expressionism was inspired by the work of Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh, French artist Paul Gauguin, and the German expressionist group Der Blaue Reiter (The Blue Rider),
with whom he exhibited briefly in 1912.
Born in Tullin, near Vienna, Schiele was accepted to Vienna's Academy of Fine Arts at the age of 16. In 1907 Schiele became a close friend and admirer of Austrian artist Gustav Klimt. Schiele's early work emulated Klimt's elegantly ornamental art nouveau
style. Although this influence remained evident in the decorative patterns with which Schiele depicted clothing and landscapes, Schiele soon developed his own more expressive style of distorted outlines. In 1909 Schiele led a small group of students who sought creative freedom from the Academy and
formed the Neukunstgruppe (New Art Group). That same year Schiele showed several paintings at Vienna's International Art Exhibition of 1909, at the age of just 19.
In 1911 Schiele moved to the town of Krumau (now &Cbreve;esk? Krumlov, Czech Republic), where he painted self-portraits, nudes, and landscapes.
Local residents objected to the sexuality of his drawings, and after only three months he moved to Neulengbach, near Vienna. Schiele's disturbingly erotic works and use of very young girls for models led to his arrest and brief imprisonment in 1912 for corruption of minors.
Schiele then
returned to Vienna, but his time in prison left him bitter and pessimistic. In an exhibition poster he designed in 1914, he portrayed himself as Saint Sebastian pierced by arrows, a symbol of the persecution he felt society had inflicted on him. Schiele's marriage to Edith Harms in 1915 inspired a
change of mood, which he expressed in large paintings of embracing couples. Schiele died at age 28 in the massive influenza epidemic of 1918, which also claimed his pregnant wife Edith and his friend Klimt.
Contributed By:
Linda F. McGreevy, B.A., M.A., Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Art History
and Criticism, Old Dominion University. Author of The Life and Works of Otto Dix: German Critical Realist.
"Schiele, Egon," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001
http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
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RELATED EXHIBITIONS
 Birmingham : Graphic Art and the Great War, featuring works by Beckmann and Schiele
Los Angeles : Women in German Expressionism
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ARTIST WORKS
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WORK DETAILS |
 | | Title: | Death and the Man | | Medium: | 1911, dimensions 80?80cm, Oil on canvas | | Exhibited at: | Private collection | |
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