Egon Schiele, pronounce SHEE-leh (1890-1918) was an Austrian painter, a major figurative painter and the protogé of Gustav Klimt. His work is noted for its intensity and the many self-portraits he produced. The twisted body shapes and the expressive lines that characterize Schiele’s paintings and the drawings and watercolors he produced mark the artist as an early exponent of Expressionism. The Leopold museum houses the most complete collection of his work, featuring over 200 works of art.  A notable collection of his work is also exhibited at the Belvedere Palace Museum that Henry and I also visited in Vienna. Schiele’s artistic talents were recognized and supported by his teachers in primary school. When he was 15 years old  his father died of syphilis and his maternal uncle recognized Schiele’s talent and passion for art. In 1906, Egon Schiele applied to the Kunstgewebeschule  (School of Arts and Crafts) in Vienna where Gustav Klimt had studied. His professors insisted he enroll at the more traditional Akademie der Bildenden Künste (the Academy of Painting Arts) in Vienna during the same year, where he studied painting and drawing, though was frustrated by the conservatism of the school. The following year, Schiele sought out Gustav Klimt who took interest in his work, buying his drawings, offering to exchange them for some of his own, arranging models for him, and introducing him to potential patrons, as well as introducing him to the Wiener Werkstätte, the arts and crafts workshop connected to the Secession. Schiele’s fist exhibition was at Klosterneburg in 1908. He left the academy in 1909 after completing his third year, and founded the Neukunstgruppe “New Art Group” with other dissatisfied students. In 1911, Schiele met  the 17-year-old Valerie “Wally” Neuzil, who lived with him in Vienna and served as a model for some of his most striking paintings. The two of them left Vienna to escape what they perceived as a claustophobic milieu, and went to live in the small southern Bohemian town of Krumau, the birthplace of Schiele’s mother. The two of them were driven out of town by the residents, who disapproved of their lifestyle and the alleged employment of the towns teenage girls as models. Egon and Wally then moved to Neulenbach, near Vienna, seeking inspirational surroundings and a studio from which to work. The studio became a gathering place for Neulenbach’s delinquent children. The town’s inhabitants held animosity against Schiele’s artistic lifestyle, and in 1912, he was arrested for seducing a young girl below the age of consent. When the police entered his studio to arrest him, they seized more than a hundred drawings.  Schiele’s work was viewed as being grotesque, erotic, pornographic, and disturbing, focused on sex, death, and discovery. He painted portraits of others and of himself, often working with nudes done in a more realistic style, as well as landscapes and still lifes. Schiele was imprisoned while awaiting trial. His case, brought before a judge, ended with the charges of seduction and abduction being dropped. He was, however, found guilty of exhibiting erotic drawings in a place accessible to children. The judge burned one of the drawings over a candle flame, and sentenced Schiele to 24 days in jail, of which he had already spent 3 weeks. In the additional three days he was imprisoned, he created a series of 12 paintings that depicted the difficulties and discomfort of being locked in a jail cell. In 1915, Schiele married Edith Harms, daughter of a middle-class Protestant family, whom Egon thought would be to his advantage. He had no intention of giving up Wally, but once the explained his plan to his mistress, she abandoned him, never to see or speak to him again. In his sorrow, he painted Death and the Maiden, based on a previous painting. Three days after his wedding, Schiele was ordered to report for active service in the army, where he was initially stationed in Prague. In the army, he was well treated by officers who respected his artistic talent. he was able to continue painting and sketching while guarding Russian prisoners of war, and doing light guard duty. He was back in Vienna by 1917, and able once again to focus on his art career. His output was prolific, and his work reflected the maturity of an artist in full command of his talents. He was invited to participate in the Secession’s 49th exhibition, held in Vienna in 1918. Schiele had 50 works accepted for the exhibition, and they were displayed in the main hall. He also designed a poster for the exhibition, based on the Last Super, with a portrait of himself in the place of Christ.  The show was a triumphant success, and the prices for Schiele’s drawing increased and he received many portrait commissions. That same year, he also had successful shows in Zürich, Prague, and Dresden. In the autumn of 1918, the Spanish flu epidemic that claimed 20,000,000 lives in Europe reached Vienna. Edith, who was six months pregnant died of the disease on October 28th. Schiele died three days later. Between their deaths, Schiele drew a few sketches of Edith. These were his last works. He was only 28 years of age at his death.

PHOTOS: Left Column: 1. Photographic Portrait of Egon Schiele c. 1914 by Anton Josef Trcka. 2. Egon Schiele’s Portrait of Wally, 1912, oil on wood. This portrait was purchased by Rudolf Leopold in 1954 and became apart of the collection of the Leopold Museum when it was established by the Austrian government, purchasing more than 5,0000 pieces that Leopold had owned. After a 1997-1998 exhibit of Schiele’s work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City, the painting was seized by order of the New York County District Attorney and was tied up in litigation by heirs of its former owner who claimed that the painting was Nazi plunder and should be returned to them. The dispute was settled on July 20, 2010 with the picture subsequently purchased by the Leopold Museum for  USD$ 19,000,000. 3. Egon Schiele’s Self Portrait, 1912, oil on wood. 4. Crescent of Houses (Island Town) 1915, oil on canvas by Egon Schiele. Center, Top: Self Portrait, 1917, Cast Stone, by Egon Schiele. Center, Middle: Small Tree in Late Autumn, 1911, Oil on Wood by Egon Schiele. Center, Bottom: Egon Schiele’s signature and stylized mark. Right Column: Rear View of Female Half Nude with Cloth, 1913, oil on canvas by Egon Schiele.