Egon Schiele

Egon Schiele is a representative Austrian painter of the first half of the 20th century. His works, which express the spiritual and inner world of human beings through distorted lines and unique use of color, are highly regarded.

Egon Schiele Biography

• He was born on June 12, 1890 in Thurn an der Donau, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now the Republic of Austria).
• In 1906, he entered the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, but was dissatisfied with the conservative educational policy and dropped out after three years.
• In 1909, he met Gustav Klimt and other painters of the Vienna Secession and was influenced by them.
• In the 1910s, he produced a series of sketches and oil paintings containing extreme expressions, including sexual themes, which frequently caused scandals.
• In 1915, he married Edith Harms.
• He died of the Spanish flu in Vienna on October 31, 1918 , aged 28. His wife Edith, who was six months pregnant, had also died three days earlier.

Representative works

• Death and the Maiden (1915)
• The Embrace (1917)
• The Family (1918)
• Man Leaning on His Elbow (1910)
• Kneeling Woman and Dead Man (1911)

While influenced by his teacher Gustav Klimt , Schiele established his own sharp and distorted style of expression. His distinctive style, which depicts the body and spirit of people through thin lines, rough brushstrokes, and strong contrasts of color, is highly regarded as a representative example of Expressionism.

His portraits reflect his strong interest in themes such as eroticism, life and death, and loneliness. While sometimes using grotesque and unstable expressions, he frankly depicts the fundamental emotions and inner worlds of human beings.

During his lifetime, Schiele was often criticized and oppressed for his radical style, but after his death he was reevaluated as an important painter representing 20th century Expressionism. His works continue to have a great influence on contemporary artists.