Egon Schiele was an Austrian Expressionist painter born on June 12, 1890, in the small town of Tulln. His interest in art began early, and by the age of sixteen, he had been admitted to the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts. In 1907, Schiele was discovered by Gustav Klimt, a well-established painter who quickly recognized his talent. Klimt’s delicate, golden, and beautiful floral imagery contrasted with Schiele’s distorted, erotic, and exposed depictions of the body in distinct anatomical positions. Schiele would eventually become strongly influenced by Klimt’s work, with Klimt becoming his mentor. Klimt reportedly described Schiele as having “far too much talent.” The two would eventually appear together in Schiele’s The Hermits (1912).

The most revealing way to understand Schiele is not through the events of his life, but through the way he chose to depict the human body—and his own body. By 1910, Schiele had begun to individuate his work from that of his mentor, developing his own radical Expressionist style. His figures were often angular, exposed, and contorted, with unusual anatomical positions that made the body appear vulnerable rather than idealized. Across his self-portraits, the body rarely appears emotionally neutral. Fear, confusion, aggression, vulnerability, and defiance can all be found in the faces and postures of his subjects. Even his hands became an expressive feature of his work, often drawn in exaggerated and unusual positions.

At 22 years old, Schiele painted Self-Portrait with Physalis (1912). The painting captures much of what distinguished his approach to the human figure. The delicate flowers and physalis berries surrounding him provide a striking contrast to his angular face, exposed neck, and intense gaze. There is beauty in the image, but it is not the kind of beauty that conceals the body’s imperfections. Instead, Schiele places them directly in front of the viewer.

Schiele’s fascination with the exposed body also extended into his erotic works, which were often explicit and unconventional for their time. Rather than presenting the nude body solely as an object of beauty, Schiele repeatedly used it to communicate sexuality, vulnerability, discomfort, and emotion. His work seems less concerned with showing the body as it is expected to look and more concerned with exposing the body as it is.

Schiele’s life was marked by experiences that brought him into close contact with illness, death, sexuality, and confinement. His father died of syphilis in 1904, when Schiele was fourteen. In 1912, Schiele was arrested following allegations involving a young girl. Although he was not convicted of the more serious abduction allegation, he spent 24 days in custody and was convicted on a separate charge related to the display of erotic drawings to minors. The experience became one of the most disruptive episodes of his short life.

In 1918, Schiele died from the Spanish influenza at just 28 years old. His wife, Edith, was six months pregnant when she contracted the virus and died on October 28. Their unborn child died with her. Only three days later, on October 31, Egon Schiele also died after contracting the virus.

Contributing Writer: Maxim Knyshuk

Learn more about Egon Schiele and his work: https://www.egon-schiele.com/ 

Image Credit: Self Portrait with Physalis by Egon Schiele via Wikimedia Commons