Artist Egon Schiele: paintings, biography

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Egon Schiele is an outstanding artist and the best master of Austrian Art Nouveau. Unfortunately, in our country it is little known. And in general, Austrian art for a long time remained in the shadows for the Russians. At the beginning of the 20th century, everyone paid attention only to Paris, and no one was interested in what was happening in Vienna, Copenhagen or Berlin. Klimt became the first Austrian painter known in Russia. Egon was considered his successor, but an early death prevented Shila from reaching the heights of her idol. However, he left a very bright mark on the art of the early 20th century.

Childhood

Egon's father, Adolf, worked on the railroad and was responsible for Tully station. It was there that the future artist was born in 1890. There were no schools nearby, so Egon Schiele was sent to Krems. In 1904, due to the deteriorating he alth of his father, the whole family moved to Vienna. Adolf's illness progressed and he died a year later.

Relationship withparents

Until the end of his days, the artist Egon Schiele felt the influence of his father. In 1913, he wrote to his half-brother: “It is unlikely that anyone remembers my noble dad with the same sadness as I do. No one understands why I go to places where he was in life and where I can feel pain. That is why there is so much sorrow in my painting. She continues to live in me!”

Egon disliked his mother, because he believed that she wore too little mourning for her father: “My mother is a strange woman … She does not understand me and does not love me at all. If she loved and understood, she could at least sacrifice something for this.”

Youth

During his belated youth, Egon had strong feelings for Herta, his younger sister. Of course, there was some incest here. When the girl was twelve and he was sixteen, they left by train for Trieste, where they spent several nights in a double hotel room. On another occasion, the boy's guardian even had to break down the door of the room to find out what his children were doing there.

Meeting with Klimt

In 1906, Egon Schiele, whose biography is known to all art lovers, entered the school of fine arts. There he quickly moved into the category of problem students and was transferred to another academy of arts. At that time, the future artist was 16 years old. A year later, he sought out his idol Klimt and showed him some of his own drawings. "Do you think I have talent?" - asked the young man. “Yes, even too much,” answered Klimt, who lovedencourage young artists. He helped Egon by buying his drawings (or exchanging them for his own) and recommending Sheela to his patrons. Klimt also placed the young man in a crafts workshop, for which Egon completed several projects (women's shoes, men's clothing, drawings for postcards). In 1908, Schiele organized his first exhibition.

Organization of the studio

After three years of study, the young man left the academy and organized his own studio. At that time, the main theme of his paintings were children going through puberty. Especially Egon Schiele liked to draw girls. A contemporary of the artist recalled: “His studio was flooded with them. The girls hid there from the police or bad parents, spent the night, just wandered around doing nothing, washed, combed their hair, repaired shoes and clothes … In general, they were like animals in a cage that suited them . Egon, who had already become an excellent artist, painted them very often. Moreover, most of the works were of erotic content. At that time, there were a huge number of collectors and distributors of pornography in Vienna, who were happy to buy Schiele's drawings. This significantly increased the income of the artist.

Self-portraits

Besides young girls, Egon Schiele was passionate about his body and took many self-portraits. He impressed not only himself, but also those around him. One of his patrons and defenders, Arthur Roessler, described Egon as follows: “Even surrounded by famous people with extreme addictions, his unusual views stood out strongly … He had a supple, thin, tall body withlong arms and narrow shoulders. The fingers were also long and conspicuous against the backdrop of bony hands. The face was beardless, tanned and surrounded by unruly, dark, long hair. Egon's broad, angular forehead showed horizontal lines. The specific features of Schiele's face became noticeable with a serious or sad expression, which was caused by an internal pain that made the artist cry from the inside. And his look, combined with a laconic colloquial style (inserted aphorisms into speech), gave the impression of inner nobility. It was very convincing because Egon behaved naturally and did not pretend to be someone else"

Fake poverty and persecution mania

During this period of his life, Schiele tried to give the impression of extreme poverty. But his statements about his own poverty are contradicted not only by personal photographs, but also by the stories of his contemporaries. No one saw the artist walking around in rags or eating in a public canteen.

Since 1910, Egon Schiele, whose paintings were constantly growing in price, began to suffer from persecution mania. In one of the letters he mentioned: “How disgusting it is here! Everyone envy me and conspire against me. And the colleagues who once praised me look with malevolent glances”

Wally Nevzil

In 1911, Egon met Klimt's former mistress and model, seventeen-year-old Wally Nevzil. She stayed with him and became his best model. The Vienna atmosphere bored the couple, and they decided to move to the small town of Krumau (there near Schielethere were family ties. But after a while, Egon and Wally had to change the scene due to the disapproval of the locals. The next refuge for the couple was the city of Neulengbach, located thirty minutes from Vienna. The artist's studio has again become a haven for disadvantaged children.

Arrest

Egon Schiele, whose self-portrait is now worth more than a million dollars, continued to lead the same lifestyle as in Vienna. This caused only hostility among those around him, and in 1912 he was arrested. More than a hundred drawings were seized by the police, which were recognized as pornographic, and Egon was charged with seduction, as well as kidnapping children. At the trial, these charges were rejected, but Schiele was found guilty of showing erotic pictures to children. Since the artist had been imprisoned for 21 days, he was sentenced to only three days. The judge also decided to publicly burn one of Schiele's drawings. Egon was glad to get off so lightly. When he was in prison, he painted several of his self-portraits, signed with pitiful phrases: “to imprison an artist is a crime”, “I don’t feel guilty, but only cleansed.” Detractors believed that this incident would somehow affect Schiele and force him to change his lifestyle. In fact, imprisonment did not affect his character or his career in any way.

Exhibitions in Cologne and Vienna

At the end of 1912, Egon was invited to an exhibition in Cologne. There he met Hans Goltz, a dealer who actively sold paintings by Austrian artists. Their relationship was one of constant struggle forprices. Egon demanded more and more fees for his work. In 1913, the artist wrote a boastful letter to his mother: “All beautiful and noble qualities were combined in me. I will become a kind of fruit that left behind eternal life even after its decay. How you should rejoice that you gave birth to me.” Schiele's persecution mania, exhibitionism and narcissism were reflected in the emblem he painted for his solo exhibition in Vienna (Arno Gallery). There he portrayed himself as Saint Sebastian.

Turning year

1915 was a turning point for Egon. He met two girls who lived across from his studio. Adele and Edith were the daughters of a locksmith who owned a workshop. Schiele became very attached to both of them, but in the end he decided to settle for Edith. The artist's former model, Wally Nevzil, was indifferently fired. Egon and Wally's last meeting took place at the local cafe Eichberger, where the couple played pool every day until this day. Schiele handed Nevzil a letter with an offer. The essence of it was this: despite the fact that he and Wally are no longer together, Egon wants to go away with her every year for a summer vacation without Edith. Nevzil naturally refused. She later became a nurse with the Red Cross and died in a military hospital of scarlet fever before Christmas 1917. Egon and Edith were married in June 1915. The girl's family was categorically against it. The artist's mother had already died by that time.

Conscription

A few days after the wedding, Egon Schiele, whose photo is attached to the article, wasdrafted into the army. He survived the war quite easily. At first, Egon served in the department transporting Russian prisoners of war, and then became a clerk in one of the prison camps. In January 1917, he was transferred to Vienna to serve in a warehouse that supplied tobacco, liquor and food to the Austrian army. In a country where food prices were constantly rising, this was considered a privileged place.

Recent years

Army service did not affect Schiele's popularity in any way. Everyone knew that he was the leading Austrian artist of the younger generation. In this regard, the leadership asked him to take part in the Stockholm exhibition to improve the image of the country in the Scandinavian states. And in 1918, Egon became the main participant in the Secession exhibition, where he presented his project - an emblem in the style of the Last Supper with his portrait instead of Jesus Christ. Even in the conditions of war, this show was a real triumph, and Schiele received many orders for portraits. Moreover, the prices for his drawings were constantly growing. This allowed the couple to move to a new studio house. But they did not have time to enjoy family happiness. In October 1918, pregnant Edith fell ill with influenza and died 10 days later. Egon was devastated by this loss, and he also came down with this disease. Schiele died three days after the death of his wife.