Egon Schiele (1890-1918) was a pioneer of Austrian Expressionism and one of the most remarkable portrait painters of the 20th century, thanks to his graphic style, distortion of the figure and contempt for conventional standards of beauty.
Under the tutelage of Gustav Klimt, Schiele dabbled in the glittering Art Nouveau style before developing his own much more austere and confrontational aesthetic of sharp lines, somber hues and mannered elongated figures. His prolific portraits and self-portraits stunned the Viennese establishment with their unprecedented psychological and sexual intensity, favoring erotic, revealing or disturbing poses in which he or his sitters curled up on the floor, despairing, staring at the viewer and thrusting. their genitals in the foreground. His models are sometimes skeletal and painful, sometimes strong and sensual. Many contemporaries considered Schiele's works not only ugly, but also morally unacceptable; in 1912, the artist was briefly imprisoned for obscenity.
Today, his work is famous for his revolutionary approach to the human figure and his direct and especially passionate, almost frenzied type of painting. This book presents Schiele's key works to introduce his short but immediate career and his profound contribution to the development of modern art, which stretches back to contemporary talents such as Tracey Emin and Jenny Savile.
