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Schiele, Egon (1890-1918)
Copyright: IMAGNO/Austrian Archives
Egon Schiele was born to a station master on 12 June 1890 in Tulln (Lower Austria). Due to his great artistic talent his mother decided to make it possible for Egon to embark on a career as artist. After being rejected at the Vienna Arts & Crafts School Schiele studied at the Vienna Arts Academy from 1906. In 1909 he left the Academy, founded “Neukunstgruppe” (New Arts Group) together with other artists and had his first national and international exhibitions, among them at the Wiener Secession and the Blauer Reiter artists association in Munich (1912).
Influenced first by the French impressionists, then by Gustav Klimt, a close friend of his since 1907, Schiele later developed that rigid, linear style, emphasizing anatomical structure in drawings and paintings that often have strong sexual subject matter. Although Schiele was best known for his emaciated self-portraits and erotic figure studies, he also painted evocative portraits of his contemporaries and dark, gloomy landscapes. In 1911, Schiele moved to the Bohemian town of Krumau (today: Ceský Krumlov), the home of his mother, where he lived with his partner. Because of their cohabiting and Schiele’s nudes of young girls, the couple soon was forced to leave Krumau and moved to Neulengbach near Vienna. In 1912 Schiele was taken into custody for three weeks for the alleged seduction of a minor.
After breaking up with his partner, Schiele married Edith Harms in 1915. In 1918 Schiele finally made his breakthrough with an exhibition at the Wiener Secession. Unfortunately he couldn’t revel in his fame long: Schiele died from the Spanish flu on 31 October 1918. Today Schiele’s works are on display at all major museums throughout the world. Albertina in Vienna has a superb collection of drawings and watercolor paintings, Leopold Museum at Museumsquartier boasts the world’s largest Egon-Schiele collection, and the Schiele Museum in Tulln (Lower Austria) documents the life of this exceptional artist.
Egon Schiele Museum in Tulln
Influenced first by the French impressionists, then by Gustav Klimt, a close friend of his since 1907, Schiele later developed that rigid, linear style, emphasizing anatomical structure in drawings and paintings that often have strong sexual subject matter. Although Schiele was best known for his emaciated self-portraits and erotic figure studies, he also painted evocative portraits of his contemporaries and dark, gloomy landscapes. In 1911, Schiele moved to the Bohemian town of Krumau (today: Ceský Krumlov), the home of his mother, where he lived with his partner. Because of their cohabiting and Schiele’s nudes of young girls, the couple soon was forced to leave Krumau and moved to Neulengbach near Vienna. In 1912 Schiele was taken into custody for three weeks for the alleged seduction of a minor.
After breaking up with his partner, Schiele married Edith Harms in 1915. In 1918 Schiele finally made his breakthrough with an exhibition at the Wiener Secession. Unfortunately he couldn’t revel in his fame long: Schiele died from the Spanish flu on 31 October 1918. Today Schiele’s works are on display at all major museums throughout the world. Albertina in Vienna has a superb collection of drawings and watercolor paintings, Leopold Museum at Museumsquartier boasts the world’s largest Egon-Schiele collection, and the Schiele Museum in Tulln (Lower Austria) documents the life of this exceptional artist.
Egon Schiele Museum in Tulln
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