Egon Schiele (1890-1918) was a pioneer of Austrian Expressionism and one of the most prominent portrait painters of the 20th century. His work is defined by restlessness and expressive colors, his deformed figures defy the traditional concept of beauty.
Schiele first honed in on the flashy Art Nouveau style under Gustav Klimt before developing his own, harsher and more unadorned confrontational aesthetic of sharp lines, obscenely garish hues, and affected elongated figures. Schiele's portraits and self-portraits shocked Vienna's conservative ruling class with an unprecedented psychological and sexual intensity that reveled in erotic, nude and disturbing poses.
Many of Schiele's contemporaries considered his works ugly, but for many they were unacceptable primarily from a moral point of view. In 1912, the artist was even briefly imprisoned for obscenity. Today, Schiele is admired for his revolutionary approach to the human figure as well as his direct and impossibly ferocious drawing style. This book selects the highlights of Schiele's work and presents his short but prolific career and his immense contribution to the development of modern art, which can be traced back to leading contemporary artists such as Tracey Emin or Jenny Saville.
Reinhard Steiner is professor of art history at the University of Stuttgart. Among his specializations are the art of the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, but also the art of the 19th and 20th centuries.