Egon Schiele

Egon Leo Adolf Schiele was born on 12th June 1890 in Tulln. His mother, Maria “Marie” Schiele (née Soukup, 1862–1935), hailed from the southern Bohemian town of Český Krumlov and was the daughter of a building contractor. His father, Adolf Eugen Schiele (1850–1904), had roots in northern Germany; working as station master of Tulln railway station, he lived with his family (Fig. 1) in a company apartment on the first floor of the station building. The couple also had three daughters: The first-born daughter Elvira (1883–1893) died at the age of only ten; Melanie (1886–1974) was born four years before Egon, and Gertrude (1894–1981) four years after her brother. The younger sister “Gerti” modeled for Egon from an early age, and was the sibling he was closest to.

Between 1896 and 1900, Egon Schiele attended primary school in Tulln. He was already an avid draftsman, repeatedly drawing trains and other motifs from Tulln railway station. In 1901, he was sent to high school in Krems, but, due to ill success, was transferred in 1902 to a newly opened secondary school in Klosterneuburg, where he stayed with his former tutor, among others. Schiele’s academic performance remained poor.

From 1902, the health of Schiele’s father deteriorated rapidly – it is believed today that he suffered from syphilis. In the autumn of 1904, he became unable to work, and the family moved to Klosterneuburg. Adolf Schiele died on New Year’s Eve of that year. His death was a great loss to his son.

Egon Schiele’s wealthy and conservative uncle Leopold Czihaczek (1842–1929), who lived in Vienna and worked as an engineer and chief inspector for the Imperial-Royal State Railway, assumed guardianship of Egon. From this time onwards, Egon and his sister Gerti made frequent use of the free ticket issued by the State Railway to semi-orphans. They visited Trieste several times, where their parents had spent their honeymoon.

In 1908/09, Schiele advanced to the general painting class of Christian Griepenkerl (1839–1916), one of the leading exponents of Vienna Ringstraße painting. His relationship with the reactionary professor was difficult from the beginning, and Schiele earned barely passing grades in almost all subjects.

At the invitation of Gustav Klimt, Schiele received the opportunity in the summer of 1909 to participate in the Internationale Kunstschau [International Art Exhibition] in Vienna. There, he was introduced to the architects and designers Josef Hoffmann (1870–1956) and Eduard Wimmer-Wisgrill (1882–1961), as well as to other representatives of the Wiener Werkstätte.

In the wake of severe disputes with Griepenkerl – who was confronted with suggestive questions in a petition – several students left the Academy. Shortly before, Schiele had founded the artists’ association Neukunstgruppe together with fellow students, with Schiele acting as both the association’s president and secretary. The first exhibition held by the collective took place in December 1909 at the Kunstsalon Pisko on Schwarzenbergplatz, Vienna. Anton Faistauer (1887–1930) designed the exhibition poster (Fig. 3), while Schiele wrote a manifesto, which was printed with slight alterations five years later in the Berlin periodical Die Aktion: “There are only few, very few New Artists [Neukünstler]. Chosen ones. The New Artist must absolutely be himself; he must be a creator; he needs to have the basis on which to build inside him, immediately and by himself, without using all that has been handed down from the past.”

Osen’s partner, the dancer Moa Mandu, was also captured by Schiele in various drawings. His encounter with the artist Max “Mopp” Oppenheimer (1885–1954) turned into a long-lasting friendship, with the two artists posing for one another and working together for months at a time.

At Vienna’s 2nd Women’s Clinic, Schiele drew newborns and pregnant women, likely with the support of the gynecologist Erwin von Graff (1878–1952) who was working there. These depictions were yet another formulation of the existential themes of sexuality, fertility, birth, frailty and death that had captured the artist’s imagination.

Schiele’s contributions to various exhibitions received positive feedback. In February 1910, the second exhibition of the Neukunstgruppe was held at the Klub Deutscher Künstlerinnen [Club of German Women Artists] in Prague. Along with Schiele, the presentation now also featured works by Faistauer, Hans Böhler (1884–1961), Albert Paris Gütersloh (1887–1973) and Rudolf Kalvach (1883–1932). The group made far-reaching plans at the point of intersection between painting and literature.

At the invitation of Josef Hoffmann, the head of the Wiener Werkstätte, Schiele participated in the Erste Internationale Jagdausstellung [First International Hunting Exhibition], held at the rotunda of the Vienna Prater from May to October 1910. He showed a now lost painting of a life-sized seated female nude. When Emperor Franz Joseph saw the work, he is said to have turned away, exclaiming: “But this is awful!”

Schiele won increasing renown as an artist. On 17th January 1913, he was admitted into the Association of Austrian Artists presided over by Klimt. This was followed by exhibition participations in Budapest, Munich, Düsseldorf, Dresden and Berlin. From June to July, the Munich Galerie Goltz dedicated a large solo exhibition to Schiele. In Vienna, he participated in the Internationale Schwarz-Weiß-Ausstellung [International Black-and-White Exhibition] and the 43rd Exhibition of the Vienna Secession. Some of his drawings and prose poems were published in the Berlin periodical Die Aktion.

Schiele traveled once more to Trieste, visited Salzburg and Munich, and holidayed for more than a month at Lake Ossiach in Carinthia. Together with Neuzil, he visited Maria Laach on Jauerling Mountain in the spring, where he made an artistic entry into the guest book. During the summer months, the couple spent a week in Krumau. In July, he was invited by Arthur Roessler and his wife Ida Roessler (1877–1961) to spend a few days at their residence in Altmünster on the Traunsee, and took Neuzil along for the trip (Fig. 8).

In early 1915, Galerie Arnot in Vienna dedicated a one-month solo exhibition to the young artist, which featured 16 paintings and numerous works on paper.

In the spring, Schiele and Wally Neuzil separated, after Edith Harms (Fig. 10) had demanded “a clean break”. Schiele and Harms were married on 17th June 1915 in Vienna, followed by a brief trip to Prague: Schiele had been drafted into the military in Prague, having been deemed fit for service after a third medical at the end of May. On 21st June, he started his service as a One-Year Volunteer in Prague; four days later, he began basic military training in Jindřichův Hradec, Bohemia, where Edith followed him.

Later he was stationed in Baumgarten, on the Exelberg near Vienna, and in Gänserndorf. He created a series of portraits of Russian prisoners of war. Schiele had little time for other artistic activities.

In January 1916, Schiele was able to participate in the exhibition Wiener Kunstschau at the Berlin Secession. There, his painting Transfiguration was presented in the same room as Gustav Klimt’s Death and Life.

In a war diary, he documented his everyday life during his deployment in Liesing, and later in a camp for captured officers in the Lower Austrian town of Mühling (Fig. 11). There, he continued to portray the Russian prisoners, depicting them in a deeply personal and empathetic manner.

In January 1917, Schiele was detailed to Vienna, where his superiors supported his work as an artist. Schiele started to make plans for the time after the War: “We know that the time of impending political peace will bring about a great clash between our civilization’s materialistic tendencies and those remnants of noble culture that this mercantile age has still left us.” Schiele took action by founding an inter-disciplinary artists’ association, the Kunsthalle, and co-organized the war exhibition Kriegsausstellung, held at the Vienna Prater from May to October. His first portfolio of twelve reproductions was published by Richard Lányi (1884–1942) in May 1917.

The year 1918 marked Schiele’s greatest breakthrough: The 49th Exhibition of the Vienna Secession in March 1918 represented a highlight in his exhibition activities as well as an unprecedented financial success, with the artist presenting 19 oil paintings and around 30 drawings in the central exhibition hall. He sold five paintings and several drawings. The Österreichische Staatsgalerie (later: Belvedere), under its then director Franz Martin Haberditzl (1882–1944), acquired the painting Portrait of the Aritst’s Wife, Edith Schiele – the first acquisition of a Schiele painting by an Austrian museum. His poster for the exhibition Round Table, became a manifesto of artist friendship (Fig. 12). Schiele can be seen presiding over the table, while the place opposite him is said to have been intended for Gustav Klimt in the draft, before the latter died on 6th February following a stroke. In the magazine Der Anbruch, Schiele published an obituary: “GUSTAV KLIMT | An unbelievably accomplished artist | A man of rare depth | His work a sanctuary.”

Schiele subsequently founded the artists’ association Neue Secession Wien, and planned presentations in Prague, Munich, Budapest and Zurich, some of which were realized. In the summer of 1918, he rented a large additional studio at Wattmanngasse 6, and planned to hold a “drawing and painting school” as well as a “master class for painting” at his previous studio on Hietzinger Hauptstraße. Following disputes within the Neue Secession Wien, he founded the Sonderbund in September.

In late October, Edith, who was six months pregnant, contracted the Spanish Flu, while Egon Schiele fell ill a few days later. Three days after Edith’s death, Egon Schiele died on 31st October 1918. His last words, recorded by Adele Harms, would come true: “The War is over – and I must go. My paintings shall be shown in all the world’s museums.”