Egon Schiele

1890-1918 • Austrian • Painter / Draftsman • Expressionist

"At last! At last! At last! At last alleviation of pain. At last paper, pencils, brush, colors for drawing and writing." - Schille

Encouraged by KLIMT, who was 28 years his senior, Schiele reacted to the older artist's style: What is elegant and decorative in Klimt is harsh, discordant, and angry in Schiele; Klimt's appreciative eroticism becomes almost malevolent in Schiele. In The Self Seer II, Death and the Man ( 1911), painted with thick, brutal brushstrokes in murky colors, a rigid , staring man, perhaps Schiele's self -portrait, is shadowed and seemingly embraced by a figure of death . The painting is eerily prophetic Schiele died in the influenza epidemic of 1918. Before that, in April 1912, he was arrested and held, for 24 days, for "immorality" and "seduction of a minor." It was alleged that by careless or willful display of erotic drawings in his studio while sketching child models, Schiele had contributed to their corruption. At first he had no materials, but after a few days of confinement he was given paper and pencil, and that is when he wrote the words quoted above. His skill in drawing was superb, and he specialized in provocative paintings and drawings of women. His series of self -portraits show a man tormented by anxiety and obsessed with sexuality.