Egon Schiele

Although Egon Schiele died of the Spanish flu in 1918 at the age of twenty-eight, he left behind a substantial, though controversial, oeuvre that will forever mark him as one of Austria's most talented Expressionists. Influenced at first by Gustav Klimt, Schiele soon developed a style of his own, abandoning decorative ornamentation in favor of a highly expressive style. His work, which relates to fundamental aspects of human life--eroticism, sexuality, and death--created a scandal in early 20th-century Vienna, and the artist was denounced by critics and government authorities. In addition to his starkly realistic nudes, he also executed profoundly sensitive portraits in which he explored the inner essence of his subjects. In this volume Jane Kallir, author of numerous books on Egon Schiele, including the catalogue raisonne of his entire oeuvre, offers a fascinating survey of the artist's life and work. The majority of the works presented here--paintings, colored drawings, and photographs--are from the comprehensive Schiele collection of the Albertina Museum in Vienna.